


Finding the Lies

by OnAWhim



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-12 07:00:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 54
Words: 45,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4469708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnAWhim/pseuds/OnAWhim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Back after hiatus*</p><p>What originally started as two chapters (and only two) has spiralled out of control to a fun and hopefully awesome saga following the lives of our two favorites, Darcy and Loki, in between the chapters of Q_it's "There's a God Under My Bed", which I recommend you read first (though some readers have said that this works as a stand alone, too, so whatever floats your boat).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Story Time or Thor-y Time?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Q_it](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Q_it/gifts).
  * Inspired by [There's a God Under My Bed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3154949) by [Q_it](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Q_it/pseuds/Q_it). 



> So this is my first fic on here. I've been reading for ages but finally decided, on a whim, to make an account because I kept thinking up stories based off Q_it's "There's a God Under My Bed". I hope you all enjoy and Q_it thanks for the inspiration to join. :)

“Loki!”

He was sitting at the table with Thor, Hogun, Fandral, and Sif.

“Lady Darcy,” he nodded towards her, “Please, join us for the evening meal?”

“Of course, Lokes.” She sat down next to Sif and grabbed a plate of boar. 

“So what are we talking about?” she asked.

Lady Sif spoke up, “Thor is telling us of what has transpired on Jotunheim.”

“Oooooh yay that was so much fun! Which part are you at?”

“Thor has already told you the story?”

“No, I was there.”

Thor coughed. 

Sif looked pointedly at Thor, then said to Darcy, “I think perhaps the Lady Darcy ought to tell the story since she seems to recall what happened more clearly than you, Thor.”

~~~~~~~~~

“…and then I went to find a cave to escape in. But Loki went off somewhere to be clever after telling the frosty something, so he’ll have to tell you this next part.”

Loki was not sure whether he was more perturbed or amused. He had refrained from correcting Thor’s account, which had featured Thor bravely charging in to rescue Loki from a beastly frost giant while Loki cowered. On the one hand, he was glad Thor’s friends would hear about the dress, but he was none too proud of the bargain he had made, regardless of the fact he intended the trickery from the start. What if Sigyn heard? Darcy, perhaps thinking of the sensitive wording of the bargain, had generously left its inclusion in the story to him.

He grinned, “Well, you see, after Thor demanded that Thrymr give Darcy back, Thrymr countered that in exchange for returning Darcy alive he wished to be brought the finest maiden on Asgard to be his bride. I accepted his bargain and walked with Thor out of the cave to inform him of my plan…”

~~~~~~~~~

“…and then, Thor put on the dress.”

Sif and Darcy had already collapsed in laughter, so Loki decided it was only fair to show them exactly how Thor had looked. He cast a spell and Thor was wearing the dress again. He doubled over in laughter as Thor shouted, “LOKI CHANGE MY ARMOR BACK RIGHT NOW!!!”

Darcy spoke between laughs, “Sif- don’t you think Thor looks totally cute in that dress?”

“Aye, it suits him better than armor. Were he to wear it to battle, the enemies would collapse in laughter at the sight. It’s far more effective than Mjolnir.”

~~~~~~~~~

It was quite late and Darcy looked sleepy. It had been an extremely tiring day. She half spoke, half mumbled, “Can’t believe Thor the bore didn’t even tell the story right until I got there.”

“Darcy, he was trying to be kind by not telling people we were on Jotunheim.”

“Our friends won’t tell. Sif’s mostly just jealous she wasn’t there.”

“Very nice. Now, we should be getting you back to Midgard.”

“I wanna stay on Asgard. I’ve still got to complete my first task.”

“Oh and what task could you possibly hope to complete in such an exhausted state?”

“Your mom said I needed to talk to you about being your advisor.”

“You can do that tomorrow, after you’ve slept.”

“But-“

“Darcy, you’re going to sleep. No arguments.”

“As your advisor, I advise you not to make me go to sleep.”

Loki smiled. “As a prince, I shall follow your advice and not make you got to sleep. However, I shall take you home to your bed so you can sleep if you choose to.”

Darcy grumbled something unintelligible.

“Besides, your other Christmas present is on Midgard.”

“Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

Loki chuckled and guided Hel out towards the portal.

~~~~~~~~~

When they got back to her room, Darcy was really, really tired. She also really, really wanted to know what her other present… present!

“Loki, I forgot to give you your gift! We’ve got to go back to Asgard to get it.”

“You can give it to me next time. Now then, where is your cellphone.”

Darcy pointed to a messy pile of stuff on her dresser. After a few minutes of looking, Loki found her phone and held it in his hands, casting a spell on it.

“There. I’ve been working to refine this spell for some weeks now. I’ve added a magical version of your ‘texting’. I can send messages to your phone using magic. They’ll look just like texts and will appear to be gibberish to anyone beside you.”

“Yay! Thanks! You’re the best.”

“Why yes, yes I am. Now, time for sleep.”


	2. Lie to Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Loki finally get to have a serious talk about the advisor position. Darcy finds another way to bring the awesomeness and usefulness of Midgardian science to Asgardian politics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So glad that you all liked the first chapter! Here's another. I'm not sure how many chapters this will end up being. It just depends on what ideas pop into my head. Enjoy!

It turns out that Darcy wasn’t the only one who was tired. When she woke up, bright and early as usual, Loki was still sound asleep. She decided to let him sleep. Except, until Loki woke up- and who knew when that would be- she was quite bored. She went downstairs to see if she could find anything interesting. Unsurprisingly, her family was still asleep, too. Since it was still only a few days after Christmas, her parents didn’t have work and her brother didn’t have school.

She decided the best way to fill her time was to find something to watch on her tv. She went to the shelf by the main tv in the living room to see if there were any movies that looked good. Her eye was drawn to a dvd on her parents’ side of the shelf that had the tv series ‘Lie to Me’. She stood on her tippy-toes and grabbed the case, reading the back: “The world's leading deception researcher, Dr. Cal Lightman, studies facial expression, body language and tone of voice to determine when a person is lying and why, which helps law enforcement and government agencies uncover the truth. But his skills also make it easier for him to deceive others.”

This looked like a show Loki would like. She decided to watch some episodes to test it out for him. 

~~~~~~~~~

When Loki awoke, he saw Darcy glued to her tv, watching what appeared to be a rather stereotypical Midgardian drama series. He yawned and Darcy noticed he was awake. 

“Loki! You’re going to love this show. It’s about the science of studying people’s faces and voices and movements to figure out if they’re lying. It’s so cool! I’m going to get a book on it from the library since Frigga said I would need to tell when people are lying since I’m your advisor now.”

“Gods, Darcy, you could at least let me get out of bed before ambushing me with your awake-ness.”

“Loki… it’s already 9 o’clock. You’re lucky I let you sleep in this late.”

“Ah yes, how generous of you.”

“Fine, be grumpy.” Darcy stuck her tongue out at him. “I’m going to go get us some breakfast.”

~~~~~~~~~

By the time Darcy returned with breakfast, Loki was mostly awake. As he fed Fenrir bits of bacon, he thought back over what Darcy had said earlier. “I did not know Midgardians had a whole science of studying lies. It would be quite interesting to study and I’ve found that spotting lies can be incredibly useful at court.”

“Yeah, that’s why I think your mom wants me to be better at catching lies. There is one problem with the lie science, though. A bunch of it is based on face muscles and behavioral patterns. It’s probably different for other species since they have entirely different biologies.”

“That is a very interesting consideration. Though it is probably not so drastic a difference as you think. For instance, the Aesir and Midgardians have very similar facial behaviors. We shall have to see if the science holds for other species.”

“It kind of stinks that all the scientists in various fields can’t know about Yggdrasil. They’d probably be able to figure out stuff way faster than me. They’d have found the Tesseract by now.”

“That might be true, Darcy, but they wouldn’t be as politically adept as you are.” Loki didn’t say everything he was thinking: ‘They wouldn’t be as good of a friend as you are.’ He cleared his throat, “On that note, I suppose we should discuss your new position.”

~~~~~~~~~

“We’ve already established that it will be a lot of work, but that you are well-suited for the position. I suppose we should just go over the logistics of it all.” Loki said, quite princely.

Darcy remembered her internal monologue all those weeks ago from Spanish class: ‘If she had it her way, she would just go live on Asgard and be Loki’s royal advisor or something. That would be productive. She would actually be a part of something important. Doing something. Helping people. Sorting out Inter-Realm war crisis was infinitely more productive than sitting in a classroom writing verb congregations.’ It seemed so long ago now. “Well,” she said, “your mom said it would be ideal for me to live on Asgard, but I said I didn’t want to. And please don’t be mad because I have a really good reason even though I wish I could be on Asgard all the time.”

“Darcy, do not worry. I do not wish to rob you of this life, nor Midgard of its greatest leader in its history.”

“Loki… you’re going to make me embarrassed if you keep saying that kind of nice stuff.”

“Why yes, it seems your cheeks are slightly red, though I doubt it’s of embarrassment.” 

“Loki!” She buried her face in her hands. “You’re impossible.”

“Yes, yes I am. Now, back to the logistics. Has my mother already told you of the title?”

“Mhm, I’m going to really be ‘Lady Darcy’ now.”

“Excellent. I do not think we need to change much of anything, since we already communicate quite frequently.” Loki smiled at the thought. “Now, there is one thing that will be different. When there is an important council meeting or political event, I may need you to come to Asgard. If you’re busy on Midgard, we shall have to figure out a way for you to duck out long enough for me to cast a double for you.”

Darcy nodded.

“I suppose I should ask you to be more cautious now when on Asgard or another realm. There may be people who seek to use your position for some cause or another. And Darcy?”

“Yes, Loki?”

“If you ever don’t want to do it anymore for any reason, just let me know. We’re friends before anything and I will not let this get in the way.”

“Well, duh, Lokes. We’re best friends forever.”

He smiled and hugged her, but a voice in the back of his mind reminded him that he would not have Darcy forever, that she was Midgardian. But, for now, to her, the adventures they would have were a part of their finite forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's chapter 2! I loved reading your comments for chapter 1, so feel free to comment if you'd like. Thanks for reading!


	3. Countdowns and Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy watches the clock; Loki forgets to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here's chapter 3! Enjoy

Loki was coming. He’d been busy with princely things on Asgard the last few days, but he’d promised to come for New Year’s Eve. Loki had told her that Asgard didn’t even care about the Midgardian New Year since everyone lived so long, so she wanted to show him how much fun it was.

Earlier that day, she’d gone to the soccer fields with her brother and a bunch of other kids from her school for a giant snowball fight. She wished Loki could have been there. He loved the snow and she probably could have convinced him to magic her an endless supply of snowballs so she didn’t have to spend so much time making them. Then maybe she would have been able to throw one at Grace when she asked, “So, you going to kiss your _boyfriend_ at midnight tonight, Lewis?” The teasing was starting to get annoying. Why couldn’t she hang out with a boy without wanting him to lick her? Grace was lucky Darcy didn’t have her swords with her. Frank had growled at Grace, at least, and Darcy appreciated that.

Now, Fenrir was curled up with Darcy in front of the fireplace, where her boots and jacket were drying. She peeled off her wet socks and mittens so they could dry, too.

“Darcy,” Her mother called from upstairs, “I’ve got a warm bath for you. Hurry up before the water cools off.”

Darcy trudged upstairs. When she passed her mom on the stairs, her mom said, “Now, honey, your father and I are going to the New Year’s party at work. Darius is going to be home to watch you and I left some cookie dough in the fridge so you two can make cookies.”

“Ok, mom.”

~~~~~~~~~

By the time Darcy had dried off and changed into her warm PJs, her parents had left. She glanced at the clock- 8:14. Loki was supposed to get here around 9 o’clock. She went downstairs to see what kind of cookies she and Darius could bake so they’d be ready for when Loki got there.

“Darius!” She shouted. “Darius! Want to bake the cookies with me?”

“No!” He shouted back from his room. “Don’t bother me. My friends and I are playing Minecraft. There’s a ton of drop parties tonight for New Year’s so I gotta stay focused.”

Darcy tried to not roll her eyes. Then she had a brilliant idea. If Darius would be up in his room the whole time, then she could bake the cookies with Loki. 

By the time she had found all the measuring cups, flour, rolling pin, and cookie trays, it was a few minutes before nine. She went upstairs to her room to wait for Loki. She laid on her bed and stuck her head down over the edge so she could see underneath, her hair falling onto the floor, undoubtedly tangling. That was okay, though. Loki would fix it when he got here.

After what seemed like hours, she could feel the blood rushing to her head, a result of hanging upside down, she knew. She pulled herself up to check the clock- 9:02. It had only been a few minutes, then. She went back to looking under the bed. The next time she checked the clock, it was only 9:07.

At 9:23, she gave up hanging upside down and brought her alarm clock with her as she laid down under the floor, looking under the bed. He must be running a bit late. Hel was probably tired.

By 9:48, she was getting hungry, so she ran downstairs as quickly as possible and made a plate of cheese and crackers to snack on upstairs. She was back up there by 9:54 and there was still no Loki. Maybe Thor had held him up.

The cheese and crackers were finished by 10:12. Maybe Loki’s dad was being mean and making Loki sit through a boring feast that was running late. She wasn’t going to let herself worry; Loki would think she was silly for worrying about something so small as an hour and twelve minutes. She wouldn’t worry- at least not yet.

Around 11:00 she let herself worry. What if he was in trouble? The stupid thing about her phone was that Loki had only magicked it so he could send her messages. Since he didn’t have a phone, she couldn’t contact him. What if Loki had forgotten about her?

~~~~~~~~~

By the time Loki got to Midgard, he was exhausted. It had been such a long day of tedious council meetings and then Thor had dragged him to the evening feast. He hadn’t planned to stay long, but then Thor dared him to dance with Sigyn and Sigyn had said yes and they had danced. Then they watched Sif and Thor sparring. It wasn’t until Fandral had started slurring his words that Loki realized how late in the night it must be. He panicked and made hasty excuses to leave. Sigyn looked at him strangely and he felt a pang of guilt for not telling her, but it soon passed. He got to the stables and rode Hel to the portal, and finally appeared under Darcy’s bed. 

The first thing he saw was Darcy’s face, eyes closed; she was asleep. The next thing he saw was the clock. It was 11:38. He was quite late. Out of habit, he cast the spell to untangle her hair. He debated what to do. Should he go back to Asgard since Darcy was asleep and return to Sigyn? He looked around the rest of the room, noticing the tv was playing a video of a square packed with mortals. A news reporter was interviewing people waiting for a ball to drop; Darcy had told him about this custom. 

The rest of the house seemed quiet, so he cloaked himself and went to look around. He saw the baking supplies out on the counter, the cookie dough too soft now. Darcy must have wanted to bake cookies with him. He grimaced; he had probably ruined her entire New Year’s holiday. With a few quick spells, the baking supplies were put away. He took out a plate and, with another spell, had a plate of perfectly circular sugar cookies with blue, purple, and silver sprinkles on them. On a piece of paper, he wrote in green script, ‘For Darcy’. On the inside, he wrote an apology and told her he’d have to stay on Asgard for the next few days for the string of feasts that were hosted this time of year. Just as he set the plate down on her bedside table, teleported her into bed under the covers, and put the clock back, he noticed the television countdown had reached 6 seconds. 

Quietly he whispered, “Five, four, three, two one.” He took a breath, “Happy Midgardian New Year, Darcy Lewis.”

Then, he disappeared back under her bed, to return to his own on Asgard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of just want to hug them both after this chapter. Anyways, comments are always welcome. :)


	4. The Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy is brilliant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had way too much fun writing this one; I hope you enjoy!

“Darcy, would you like to tell the class what you’re reading that is apparently more important than systems of equations?”

_The third condition of Arrow’s Theorem is the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives criterion, the IIA. The IIA states that for any two candidates A and B, the societal preference order should only be dependent on the individual preference ballots. In general, changing the order of any irrelevant pair of candidates, while fixing the relative order of…_

Darcy suddenly realized Mr. Cutter had called on her. Would she like to tell the class that she was reading a book on selected topics in finite mathematics, specifically voting theory? No, she wasn’t that insane.

“No thanks, sir.”

“No thanks?”

“You asked if I wanted to tell the class what I was reading and I wouldn’t like to.”

“Very well.” He paused. “Please place the book on my desk and we’ll discuss this after class.”

He waited for Darcy to navigate between the desks and the eyes of her classmates to put her book on his desk. Then he waited for her to walk all the way back. Finally, he went back to demonstrating how to solve a system of equations regarding how many cookies someone had sold at a fictional bake sale.

~~~~~~~~~

The bell rang. Her classmates had been packing up their bags for the last five minutes of class already, so they were out the door to lunch as soon as the bell freed them. She gathered up her stuff and walked up to the front where Mr. Cutter was waiting. 

“Darcy, I wish you would pay attention in class. You were moved up to 7th grade math, something we usually don’t let students do, so you would be happier.” He was waiting for her to apologize or even just to say something, she knew, but Darcy decided to stay silent. “Very well, let’s see what we have here.” He picked up her book and she watched his face intensely. And, yup, there it was: brows arch up, eyes open wider, jaw muscles more slack. He was certainly surprised. She’d been studying the science of lying a lot lately.

He swallowed, rubbed his temples (Aha, a manipulator! Darcy waited for the lie that must follow.), and then, finally, spoke, “I suppose you think this is funny, pretending to read this while you nap in class.”

Now she was mad. She didn’t like to flaunt it, but how could he be so thick-headed as to not even consider she might actually be intelligent. They had made her take those stupid tests, after all. “Oh, sure, Mr. Cutter. I guess I’ll just be pretending when I tell you that the Borda Count satisfies the Condorcet Loser Criterion but not the Condorcet Winner Criterion, so you have to use Black’s System to make an election more fair. Do you think the mathematician May was pretending went he wrote his theorem about quota systems, ‘cause I don’t.”

He looked shocked she had spoken to him that way. He probably didn’t know what she was talking about, too, which actually made it really funny. Voting theory wasn’t exactly a popular branch of math. He was about to respond when the door opened. An office aide walked in and said, “Mr. Cutter, Darcy Lewis has an appointment in the office.”

He seemed flustered. “I see. Miss Lewis and I were just in the middle of a rather serious discussion. Shall I send her down to the office in a few minutes?”

“I’m afraid I was told to fetch her immediately.” Darcy wondered why the aide was talking so funny… unless… maybe…

“Mr. Cutter, I’d better go. Can I have my book back and we can talk about this tomorrow?”

“Very well. Be sure you finish all of your homework.”

“Ok, bye.” She stepped out into the hall with the aide and there was Loki, waiting just outside the door. “Loki! You’re here!” She hadn’t heard from him since the note on New Year’s. She wanted to be mad, but it was Loki, so staying mad was pretty much impossible. And he had just saved her from a rather painful conversation.

~~~~~~~~~

“Yes, brilliant deduction.” He sighed in relief. No comment on the New Year’s debacle. She must not be upset. Thank the gods.

“How’d you get here? Did you come all the way from under my bed?”

“Yes, though once on Midguard, I teleported to your school.”

“Why are you here? I thought you weren’t coming back until this weekend.” No need to mention that she had been worried he might be late for that, too.

“There’s a rather urgent matter on Asgard that needs attending to and Mother thinks now would be an opportune time to officially announce you as my advisor. And I did text you, you know.”

“Right now? It’s lunchtime. And I kind of accidentally forgot my phone at home.”

“Of course you did.” He smirked, then continued, “I have already found a remote location where we can make you a double. Follow me.”

Loki led her to a small maintenance area he had found earlier. For some reason, this made her giggle. Darcy Lewis certainly was a strange mortal.

“Alright, Darcy, what is so funny this time?”

“You’re leading me into a janitor’s closet.”

“Yes, I was aware of that fact.”

“We need to make you watch more cliché high school movies.”

“You’re insane, my dear. Now stand still while I cast the double.”

They let the double go to lunch and Loki teleported them outside the school, where they walked most of the way to Darcy’s house. When they got close enough, Loki teleported them into Darcy’s room so they would not have to break into her own house and risk being caught. Next stop: Asgard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta da! I couldn't help but stick the mathematics of voting in there. It seems like something Darcy would be interested in because of PolySci. As always, comments are greatly appreciated.


	5. Tea with Frigga

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this next update took a while! Life decided to be hectic this week. Here's the next chapter. :)

Darcy had been peppering Loki with questions the entire ride to the palace: “What’s the meeting about?” “Why do I have to officially be announced as your advisor?” “Will I have to make a speech?”

Loki hadn’t answered, insisting that she’d find out from Loki’s mom, who was apparently in charge today. 

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Loki shook his head in mirth. “Fine, I shall answer this one if you promise not to ask anymore questions.”

“You’re not tricking me into a deal, Lokes.”

“I was not attempting trickery, Darcy. I merely tire of your inquiry.”

“Where are we going?” This time she accompanied the question with a poke.

“We are meeting Sigyn in the library.”

“Umm… Lokes, I know me and Sigyn are friends, but if you’re meeting her you probably shouldn’t bring me.”

“Darcy! It’s not that kind of meeting for goodness sakes. We’re meeting her so she can escort you to the Queen.” 

“Why can’t you take me? She’s your mom.”

“That is an excellent question. I believe the issue is that since this is the formal announcement of your position, you’ll have to go to the ladies bathing chambers and I certainly will not escort you through there. Perhaps you could ask Fandral if you find Lady Sigyn’s escort unsatisfactory.”

“Ew! Loki!”

Loki shushed her, as they were entering the library. “Lady Sigyn,” he said, by way of greeting.

Sigyn smiled and nodded, “Loki.”

Darcy elbowed Loki in the side and stage whispered, “Aww… she calls you Loki now that’s so cute!”

Loki pretended not to notice and left, kissing Sigyn’s hand on the way out.

~~~~~~~~~

Sigyn helped Darcy into a more formal dress than usual. It was more stiff than she was used to, though Sigyn explained that this was because advisors were expected to stand straighter and stiffer in committee while advising. Darcy thought that was stupid. Why should advisors have to wear uncomfortable dresses? She was a Lady, warrior, and advisor at the same time, so she should get to choose what to wear. She voiced this opinion to Sigyn and was told she’d only have to wear the super formal dress for her first day today.

It seemed like ages of bathing and dressing before Darcy was finally able to meet with Frigga. 

Once Sigyn had left, Frigga offered her tea, which she accepted. 

“Now, Darcy, shall I explain what will transpire today?”

Darcy nodded.

“Excellent. First, there is a council meeting, which we shall depart for after our discussion. You will not enter the room to begin with. Instead you will be asked to wait with the guards outside the door. Inside, when the Allfather asks if there are any points, Loki will raise a point of order. He will ask the Allfather to confirm his appointment of you as his advisor. Odin and I have discussed this, already, of course, so he will confirm it quickly. Then, you will be escorted into the room to the seat on Loki’s left where you are expected to stand until your formal introduction is finished.”

“Do I need to do anything differently in committee?”

“No, though I’m sure you know that you have the same speaking privileges as Loki now. Also, people should address you as Advisor Darcy in council. You and Loki will likely want to write notes on your parchment to communicate thoughts during council. Passing notes is permitted, of course, but be sure Loki enchants them to be unreadable to all but you two. Now then, at the end of council, during the vote to adjourn for the day, when your name is called, you will be applauded as you vote. After the council meeting, you will have some free time, but that will likely be spent shaking hands with the rest of the committee. Then, tonight, there will be a feast in honor of Loki appointing an advisor.”

Darcy took a deep breath, not exactly sure what to say.

Frigga asked, finally, “Any questions?”

“Can I bring Fenrir with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Comments are always welcome. Also, the next chapter should be posted soon. It's written, so I just need to go back through and edit it.


	6. Point of Order

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a ton of fun to write and therefore somewhat longer than my others, so I really hope you all enjoy it!

The Allfather’s voice boomed in the council room. Apparently he had no concept of an indoor voice. “Are there any points or motions on the floor?” It was so loud that Darcy could hear it in the hallway where she was waiting between the standard compliment of guards outside the council room. 

She heard another muffled voice speak, not as loud as the Allfather’s. She could quite make the words out, but she knew it would be someone motioning for the attendance to be taken. She knew what would come next. According to the rules of parliamentary procedure, Loki could interrupt the motion with his point of order. 

“Um, is it alright if I listen at the door?” She asked the guard. When there was no reply, she said, “I’m usually in there and I’ll be an advisor soon.” Still no answer. Well, they didn’t say no. She put her ear to door.

She could hear Loki’s voice, which sounded especially prince-like today, speak up, “Point of order,” the Allfather acknowledged Loki’s point and he continued, “I seek permission of the Allfather to appoint Lady Darcy as my advisor.”

There was a pause. Darcy realized she was holding her breath. She stepped away from the door to check her dress, smoothing out the miniscule wrinkles. “Fenrir, you should probably wait out here.” She got her smile ready and stood tall so she would look important when the doors opened.

The guard inside opened the door. Darcy walked in, beaming. This was it. 

Odin cleared his throat for what Darcy supposed would be a rather generic welcoming statement- as if anyone could find the Allfather welcoming. Darcy glanced at Loki, whose eyes were wide. Hmm. Interesting. The Allfather spoke at last, “Lady Darcy, Prince Loki has requested to appoint you as his advisor. I have decided that the council will decide whether you deserve this position. You will be asked a series of questions, with follow-ups permitted, until there is a successful motion to end the process. There will be a brief recess so that council members may gather their questions.”

Now Darcy was the one with wide eyes. Frigga had said Odin would confirm it easily. And wasn’t there more important things to discuss than her qualifications in a royal council meeting? She glanced at Frigga who was already walking to Odin with a stern look on her face. She sure didn’t envy him right now.

“Darcy!” Loki half shouted, half whispered. He led her by the elbow to a more private corner, then continued, “Darcy, I am so sorry. This was… unexpected. It may be difficult, as some may wish to refute your appointment to cost me political points, but we should be able to get enough votes, I think. I still just can’t believe this nonsense! It’s a private appointment, not a council matter. I’ll motion for a vote before a question is asked.”

“Good gravy, Lokes, calm down!” She was still trying to process all this. “It’s going to be fine. Let me answer some questions. It’ll probably just be political stuff. I can answer that sort of thing in my sleep. I think it’ll be fun, just like the presidential debates I showed you.”

“If you wish to, then very well. But, if their questioning gets vicious, I shall motion for the vote to end it.”

“Don’t be silly. When the roundrobin ends, it needs to be because I’ve said everything people need to know, not because I’m too weak to answer a nasty question.”

“Darcy, you don’t understand what some of them-“

“Yes, I do! Trust me, Loki. Please?” She knew he was only reluctant because he was afraid for her, but he needed to let her do this.

“Very well.” 

“Excellent, I’m going to wait over there.”

~~~~~~~~~

Loki wasn’t sure he had ever been so nervous in a council meeting. People were retaking their seats. It would start soon.

The Allfather’s voice stopped all crosstalk. “Any points or motions?”

An Asgardian representative motioned to begin the roundrobin.

Loki would not be asking any questions. To do so would look unsure of his own appointment.

The first question came from a representative from Nornheim, “Lady Darcy, as you may be aware, there are still dangerous tensions between Nornheim and Vanaheim. What would you propose be done in the effort of more peaceful coexistence?”

Loki held his breath. This wasn’t a terrible question, but there were a lot of ways for her answers to be mocked- if they were similar to a previously raised suggestion, if they relied on magic at all, if they seemed naïve, if it seemed impractical… His train of thought was interrupted by Darcy speaking.

“Tensions between the Norns and Vanir are indeed at a dangerous level. We have found some semblance of a peace in the recent events on Nornheim that I am sure we are all familiar with. Firstly, officials from the two realms should arrange a battery of diplomatic meetings and press events. This would be of little cost to either realm and show the majority of the populaces that their leaders intend for peace and diplomacy. Secondly, the council should appoint an objective committee for overseeing the investigating and policing all transgressions between citizens of these realms. This committee should contain at least two delegates from each Nornheim and Vanaheim. In addition, three delegates from Asgard. This ensures no realm possesses a majority and should prevent disputes from becoming enflamed.”

When she finished speaking, there was silence. Loki had known Darcy was gifted at politics, but he had never truly appreciated the eloquence and insight that came so naturally to her. He could not have answered better himself. He especially loved the military metaphor for diplomacy, ‘a battery of diplomatic meetings’. It would appeal to those whose positions on the issue would be disagreeable to her answer.

After several minutes, when it seemed that no other delegates were inclined to ask a question in light of Darcy’s thorough response, Thor posed a question, “Lady Darcy, what are your views on magic?”

Loki cringed. Thor was truly an idiot. No doubt he thought he was being helpful, showing the council that Darcy supported Loki like an advisor is presumed to do, but he had to know that the topic was vinegar to the council.

“Prince Thor, could you specify which facet of the issue you wish me to address?” 

Thor looked perplexed for a minute before saying, “Do you think it should be used in combat?”

Darcy’s answer was quick. “In certain circumstances, yes.” She paused, twirling her hair around her finger as she thought. After a few seconds, she was ready to elaborate. “I would ask you all to consider whether a sword should be used in combat. You probably answered yes. A sword is a tool of force and it is the power to achieve your agenda on the field of battle. Should a horse be used in combat?” She paused as she waited for the murmurs of ascent. “Exactly. A horse is not a tool of force, yet we use it combat. It is a tool of maneuverability and can be the power to achieve your agenda on the field of battle. Now, let us return to the original question: should magic be used in combat?”

Loki allowed himself to smile as Darcy paused artfully for emphasis. By now, the rest of council could clearly see the logical conclusion of her answers.

She continued, “Magic can be used in the field of battle to confuse enemies, gain a tactical advantage, and achieve your agenda on the field of battle. So yes, magic should be used in combat when appropriate, just as you would not use a horse in a naval battle.”

Thor applauded, even though such noise was not generally permitted in council by the rules of parliamentary procedure. After several minutes, no one had asked another question. Loki suspected quite happily that they were afraid of how foolish their question would sound after Darcy had answered. Loki looked at Darcy, who smiled and nodded acquiescently. 

“Allfather, I would like to raise a motion.” He said.

The Alfather nodded at him.

“I motion that this committee vote on the appointment of Lady Darcy as my advisor.” 

A quick show of hands passed the motion.

The Allfather sat forward in his seat. “Very well, we shall now enter the voting procedure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta da! A lot of this was inspired by my friends and I talking about Model UN, as you might be able to tell by the flavor of the chapter. Also, I was watching the GOP debates before I started writing this and that made me think that it would be nice to give Darcy a chance to speak for herself instead of with Loki. Anyways, that's enough rambling for now. Comments are always welcome. :D


	7. Advisor Darcy's First Piece of Advice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you all will like this chapter quite a lot. Without further ado:

Needless to say, the appointment passed. It was not incredibly close, nor was it a landslide. It was simply a respectable majority, which was all Loki could have asked for. He still couldn’t understand why Odin hadn’t approved it himself, though. Loki glanced back at the council room where Darcy was tactfully shaking hands with the various representatives.

“Brother, you should have told me the occasion for tonight’s feast.” Thor said pleasantly.

“Thor, you know it is not proper to say anything until the appointment is official. Besides, I did not wish to have the entire palace whispering about Lady Darcy becoming my advisor.”

“This will not stop them from whispering.”

“It will be announced at the feast tonight, so there will be no reason to whisper about it.” Loki waved his hand dismissively. He knew what Thor was trying to say, but had no patience for the topic. 

“Very well, Loki. I shall see you at the feast in a few minutes.”

~~~~~~~~~

Darcy was beaming. She was pretty sure she hadn’t felt this triumphant ever. As she shook hands with a Vanir representative, she glanced at the doorway out of the corner of her eye, where Loki was talking with Thor. He looked annoyed. She wished the council members would hurry up with all the hand shaking and pleasantries so she could talk to Loki before the feast.

She dimly registered the last person saying, “Thank you, Lady Darcy, it will be a pleasure to have you in meetings.” She turned to walk into the hall after them. Loki was waiting just outside the door.

~~~~~~~~~

“You did marvelously, Advisor Darcy.” He grinned.

“Why thank you. Now, can we go to the feast? I want to say hi to Sif.”

“Yes, just a moment.”

“What’s wrong? You look funny.”

Darcy was always so perceptive. “Ah, it is nothing, well, not nothing, just- you might hear people talking.”

“Yeah, no duh. Of course they’ll be talking! It’s a special feast!” 

He wished he didn’t have to spell it out. “Darcy, there will be those who question… that I appointed an advisor before the crown prince.” Well, that was one thing that the gossip-mongers might discuss, but it was certainly not the main thing. He took a deep breath. “There will also be those that… uh… say stuff about us.” He wanted to kick himself. ‘Stuff’. Oh yes, that was so informative.

“Loki?” She looked confused.

“They will likely think we are involved.” He winced. It sounded like such a ridiculous thing to worry about, but such were the woes of being a prince.

“Psh, who would think that?” Loki noticed that Darcy’s voice was higher pitched. Curious.

“Indeed.”

“Well, there’s one thing to do about that!” She giggled. Loki knew that giggle meant trouble.

~~~~~~~~~

“Hi Sigyn!”

“Hello, Lady Darcy. Congratulations on your appointment.” Sigyn smiled.

“Thanks! Hey, Loki has something to ask you!” She nudged Loki, who was definitely blushing now, and grinned. This was working perfectly. 

Loki stepped forward a bit and spoke, “I did not require your assistance in asking the magnificent Lady Sigyn to dance, Darcy.”

“Sure you didn’t, Loki. Just remember the rest of The Plan, because I don’t think you’d want my help with that.” She gave him an exaggerated wink.

“You are extremely correct in that assumption.” He offered his arm to Sigyn, which she took, and they left for the center of the floor.

Darcy immediately went to look for Sif so they could watch.

~~~~~~~~~

They circled slowly and elegantly; they were both familiar with this Asgardian waltz.

Sigyn spoke first, “You must be glad to appoint your advisor.”

“It was time for me to do more in council.”

“I’m sure Darcy will provide you with much wise counsel.”

“I agree. Though I must admit, I am quite nervous with the advice she gave me for tonight.”

“Oh?”

“She said I should kiss you while we were dancing.”

“To do that in front of the entire palace would make our courtship quite official.”

“Yes, it would. Are you… agreeable to the notion?”

“It would make me quite glad. I think it would also please the two female warriors making kissing faces at us from the banquet table.”

Loki glanced in the direction where Sigyn had nodded. Darcy and Sif looked absolutely hilarious. He chuckled. “Well, I suppose we should make it a good one for them, then.”

Lady Sigyn smiled. They danced another measure. The song was ending. Loki leaned in. The “Awwwwww” from the two-girl chorus at the banquet table could be heard throughout the hall.

“That was definitely a good one, Loki.” His cheeks were scarlet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Voila! I hope you all enjoyed. Thanks so much to everyone reading, leaving kudos, and commenting. They're always welcome and appreciated. :)


	8. Loki the Teenage Prince

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify, this is still set after Chapter 22 of There's a God Under My Bed by the spectacular Q_it. I'll be trying my best to make sure that my stuff fits in that year between chapters 22 and 23. I hope you enjoy!

Darcy had been up to something for weeks. The troubling part of it was that she continually lied to him, pretending nothing was amiss. He knew his friend well enough to know when she was hiding something. He was certain there was no way she was being coerced into anything. He had checked magically to be sure she wasn’t under any spells and was confident she would be able to resist any rudimentary coercion. So what was it?

“Hi Lokes!”

“How was today’s meeting with my mother?”

“It was awesome! She let me talk with one of her dwarf acquaintances today. That lady was going on and on about dirt qualities and how to differentiate between common-ore-dirt and semi-precious-ore-dirt and precious-ore-dirt. I eventually had to tell her she should just call it ‘cod’, ‘spod’, and ‘pod’ because the names were so long.”

“Did she?”

“No, you know how attentive the dwarves are to detail.”

“So what was the purpose of this discussion?” Loki was glad Darcy still found the endless meetings and politicking interesting. He himself had long since tired of it, which was why it was so helpful to have her as an advisor. She could attend hours-long meetings about _dirt_ and report to him with her recommendations.

“Well there have been a lot of rumors that at the next financial meeting the dwarves plan to dramatically raise their export tariffs on all materials. It’s weird because the only reason I could think for them to do this is to have more money to pay some expense or if their supply was becoming depleted. So after talking with Phrelgm- that was the dwarf lady’s name, by the way- I decided that there was no way that their resources were being too rapidly depleted, especially with the magic they do on all the dirts to make it a renewable process.”

“Darcy, you do realize the benefit of not going to these meetings is that it _doesn’t_ take hours of my time, right?” He asked in jest.

“Fine, fine. I was almost finished anyways. So, as your advisor, it is my recommendation that if the raised tariff is proposed, we use the magical renewable processes as our reasoning for being against it.”

“Excellent.”

“Why thank you.”

“Now, what are you hiding from me?”

“What?” 

Loki noticed she seemed to stiffen at his question. She may know how to detect lies, but she was still no better at telling them. He knew that. She knew that. And he was sure she must know he knew that. “Darcy, we cannot keep secrets from one another. It could jeopardize us politically if we are not in concert.”

“Loki, it’s nothing like that.”

“So you are hiding something from me.”

“Yes.”

“Tell me.”

“No.”

“Darcy,” he warned. 

“I’m not telling you, Loki.”

“Fine, then I have nothing more to say to you.” He turned his attention back to his book and ignored her.

“Loki, stop being ridiculous! Don’t you trust me?” 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her expression- true annoyance. He sighed. “Of course I trust you, Darcy, but that does not mean I trust your secrets.”

“But if you trust me and I trust my secrets…”

“Darcy, trust is not transitive.” How could she expect him to be ok with her keeping secrets deliberately from him? What could possibly be so awful she would tell him?

“It should be.”

“I would like to read in peace for a while.”

“I’m not leaving until you stop pouting.” 

Pouting! This wasn’t pouting. He was a prince and princes don’t pout, they glower! “Very well, you are dismissed.”

“You can’t just dismiss me.”

“Yes, I can. I am a prince. Now shall you leave of your own volition or the guards?” The ferocity with which she stomped out of the room surprised him; he half-expected it to start storming like it did sometimes when Thor got angry.

~~~~~~~~~

Darcy stormed outside, to the garden, where, to her surprise, she found Sigyn concentrating on sewing. She turned to leave so as not to disturb her, but Sigyn had already noticed her.

“Lady Darcy, are you okay? You seem rather distressed.”

“Hi Sigyn. I’m fine I guess, just mad. Loki and I got into a fight because he thinks I’m hiding something, which to be fair I am.” She tried to casually wipe her eyes, but she was pretty sure Sigyn had noticed the tears.

“I am so sorry, Darcy. I imagine Loki’s anger would be quite unpleasant.”

Darcy nodded. “It’s not as if what I’m keeping from him is bad or anything.”

“You are speaking of The Thing?”

“Yes, and thanks for using the code name I came up with.”

“Certainly. We all knew that keeping this from Loki would be difficult. Lies and secrets are his area of expertise, after all.

“Mhm.”

Sigyn poured a cup of tea from the kettle on the small table next to her. “Here, have this. It will help to calm you down.”

“Thanks. Is it ok if I sit here and watch you sew for a bit?”

“Of course, Lady Darcy.”

~~~~~~~~~

Loki wasn’t at dinner. Sigyn told her she had seen him brooding in the library a few minutes ago. Darcy couldn’t pay attention to the dinner conversation. She couldn’t believe Loki had used his princely authority to dismiss her from the room. It was only a surprise birthday party, for goodness sakes! He would be turning the Asgardian equivalent of thirteen in a few days and she had been planning a surprise feast on Asgard with Frigga, Sigyn, Hogun, and Sif. She was also planning him a birthday party on Midgard with funfetti cake, silly hats, the whole nine yards. She knew Loki couldn’t stand surprises, but that was why she thought he needed one- a harmless one. 

Loki’s voice interrupted her attention-consuming thoughts, “Lady Darcy, may I speak with you in the hall, please. 

Thank goodness he was talking to her again. She followed him out into the hall. 

He spoke, “I’ll take you back to Midgard now.”

“You’re still mad at me.”

“Yes, but it is my duty to see you safely back to your realm.”

They rode Hel to the portal. Frank was biting his tail the entire time. 

“Loki, before we go back, can you promise me you’ll come back in a few days to bring me to Asgard like we planned?”

“Darcy, I believe we both need time to think about everything. When you are ready to tell me what you are hiding from me, I may take you back.”

“How would I even tell you when I’m on Midgard?”

“I will come visit on occasion.”

“Loki, please.”

He led her through the portal. “Good evening, Darcy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure we all want to throw something at Loki right now. Comments are always more than welcome. :)


	9. Meanwhile, Life on Earth...

Darcy woke up early on Loki’s birthday. Loki had said he would be back, though she suspected he’d be sulking for a few days. He had originally said he would bring her to Asgard in the morning, creating a double of her to go to school. 

Around 7:30, her mother walked in to her bedroom, “Darcy Elizabeth Lewis! What are you doing still in bed?”

“I… uh… I don’t feel very well.” She did her best to look under the weather.

“Darcy, honey, why don’t you want to go to school today? Is it a test? Did you forget some homework?”

“No.”

“Is there something wrong at school?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“How’s your new math class going?”

“It’s good.”

“What are you learning about in there?”

“Nothing important- I don’t really remember.”

“Darcy, how could you possibly not know what you’ve been doing in class?”

Well, most days she wasn’t even on Earth, let alone in Mr. Cutter’s classroom. “Mom, I just want to stay home today. Please? I can do chores if I have to!”

“Fine, but you’d better be ready for school tomorrow without a hassle. And we’ll tell Darius you aren’t feeling well so he doesn’t get mad, okay?”

~~~~~~~~~

Emma Lewis was growing more concerned with her daughter’s mood. She’d chalked Darcy’s incessant exhaustion up to her being a growing teenager, but that didn’t stop her from worrying. There were times when Darcy couldn’t be found or when she was quiet and clearly upset about something. How could she, as a parent, not know if Darcy was alright? She dialed the number for Darcy’s school.

“Hello, this is Emma Lewis. I’d like to call Darcy Lewis in sick for today.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. I’ve marked her down in the system so her teachers will be notified.”

“Thanks so much, have a great day!”

“Actually, Mrs. Lewis, you’re on my call sheet for today. Do you have a few minutes? I can pull up the call request and we can get it out of the way.”

“Sure.”

“Ok, here it is.” The secretary’s voice changed tone as she started reading from her officially approved script, “Hello, Mrs. Lewis. I’m calling on behalf of Mr. Cutter, Darcy’s mathematics teacher. He’d like to meet with you to discuss Darcy’s performance in class at your earliest convenience.”

“Oh, okay. Can we schedule something for later today?”

“Sure, if you come in around noon, you can catch him on his lunch break.”

“Great, thanks.”

“I’ll let him know you’re coming. Have a great day, bye!”

~~~~~~~~~

“Hello, Mrs. Lewis. Thanks for stopping by.”

“You wanted to discuss Darcy’s performance in class?”

“Yes, she’s doing much better now that she has been moved up, though she still manages her A’s on tests while ignoring most of the homework. What I really wanted to talk to you about was her general wellbeing. There are times when she seems like a robotic doppelganger of herself, but then other days she’s the same old energetic Darcy Lewis. Have you noticed anything like that?”

Had she? Now that she thought about it, there were nights when Darcy, usually something of an instigator, was completely agreeable- even to her brother. She thought Darcy had just been getting more mature. “I might have, yes.” She said, finally.

“Her other teachers have expressed their concern about it, as well. Such mood shifts aren’t uncommon, though, especially amongst the highly gifted.”

“Highly gifted?”

“Yes, I know we all agreed to move Darcy up in mathematics, but I think perhaps that even this class is below her level. She was studying May’s Theorem in class several weeks ago and that caught me by surprise- I didn’t see that material until college. After the our discussion of it, she was withdrawn for the rest of the day, so I’m afraid I mishandled the situation.”

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t fathom- how could she be so advanced? She’s always reading, but she’s just a kid.”

“It’s hard to notice these things. I think you should consider sending her to a school that’s more prepared to help her grow intellectually, and not just in math. Her social studies teacher showed me an essay she wrote on the causes of World War I that referenced advanced topics in political theory. There have been several schools that have contacted us about her already, you know.”

“How do they know about her?”

“The IQ tests she took are sent to various academic institutions. Several of the schools indicated they’d be happy to consider Darcy for scholarships, too.”

“She doesn’t seem like- like the braniacs that go to those schools! She hates studying, school, and- it just doesn’t make sense.”

“I understand, Mrs. Lewis. All I ask is that you and your husband consider it.”

~~~~~~~~~

Emma Lewis looked through the list of schools that had expressed interest in Darcy. There were several dozen, each touting their small classes, personalized learning plans, flexible scheduling, extracurricular activities, fabulous facilities, expert faculty, and more. One letter stood out, though.

Students of High Intelligence’s Educational and Leadership Development Preparatory Academy (SHIELD Prep)   
Our institution focuses on preparing the youngest, brightest minds to enter SHIELD’s Science and Technology, Communications, or Operations academies. Programs focus on hands-on research and college-level or above classes. Students are taught the skills they need to succeed in their academic pursuits as well as to lead their peers. SHIELD Prep emphasizes determination, commitment, and ethics in addition to the standard courses and surrounds its students with positive role models in their fields. 

Emma shook her head. Who did all these schools think Darcy was?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this wasn't the most exciting chapter, but I thought it was important to explore how Darcy's life on Earth is faring since she spends so much of her time on Asgard. I also hope it shows how huge a part of Darcy's life Loki is. I'm crossing my fingers that you all enjoyed it and I promise the next chapter will have Loki and more excitement. Comments are always welcome! :)


	10. Loki's Birthday Celebration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since the last chapter! Classes and life have picked back up again.

Loki woke up early on his birthday. After dressing for the day, he went to the library. He pulled a book off the shelf and began his studies for the day. 

**_Mind Reading (Voluntary)_**  
The following incantation must be repeated by both parties and will allow to read each other’s minds for one day. For use in battle for clearer communication that is undetectable to enemies. Incantation:  
 _“Meddwl dros dro o fy ffrindiau.”_

“Loki?” Sigyn’s voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and noticed she had been standing quite near, but he had been too distracted by his reading.

“Sigyn, my apologies; I didn’t see you there.”

“That’s quite alright. I was wondering if you might want to accompany me to the midday meal?”

“Of course. It would be my pleasure.”

They were almost to the hallway outside the dining hall when Sigyn spoke up again, “Actually, would it be too much trouble if we took a detour to get a spell book from Queen Frigga?”

“Certainly.”

As they neared, Loki noticed a small smirk on Sigyn’s face. In fact, now that he noticed it, he wasn’t sure how he could have missed it before. He must have been quite absorbed in his studies earlier. He felt a bit guilty; he should be paying more attention to Sigyn. What could she have up her sleeve. Perhaps it was something his mother had planned for him. A test of some sort? Why would his mother involve Sigyn?

The door opened. 

A chorus of voices greeted him. “Happy day of birth, Loki!”

His mother was there. Thor was there. Fandrall, Hogun, Sif, and, of course, Sigyn. She was smiling from ear to ear. 

“Thank you.” He said.

Sif spoke up, “It’s all the Lady Darcy’s doing. She planned it all.” 

Lady Darcy… Darcy… the surprise… oh, no.

Frigga hugged him and said, “Happy day of birth, Loki, my dear.” She handed him a blank, green leather book. “You can use it to keep some of your most useful spells close at hand.”

“Thank you, Mother.” He grimaced, “I appreciate this celebration you all have contributed to, but I must attend to something urgently. Would you all please excuse me?”

Some people started to nod. Sigyn looked concerned. He didn’t wait for any more of a response and dashed out of the room. After fetching Hel from the stables, he rode to the portal. 

He bumped his head unexpectedly. The mattress was lower than usual. Could Darcy still be in bed? It must be after midday on Midgard by now! Was she ill?

“Darcy?” He whispered.

“Loki! You’re here!” Darcy’s head appeared upside down over the edge of the bed. “Did you like your birthday party?”

“I loved it, Darcy. That was what you were hiding from me?”

“Yups.”

“You could have just told me.”

“Then it wouldn’t have been a surprise, silly.”

“I’m sorry I was upset with you.” 

“It’s alright.” Darcy swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “So why aren’t you at your party?”

“I left to come to Midgard.”

“Oh, well, my parents are gone. We can have a birthday party here!”

“I have a better idea. How would you like to go to a larger library and do some more research on the Tesseract?”

“It’s your birthday! We’ve got to go do something really, really fun!”

“What do you have in mind?”

“How far away can you teleport?”

“As long as it’s on the same continent we should be ok. I’ve been practicing.”

“Ok, then I’m going to take you to Epcot.”

“Epcot?”

“Yup, it’ll be just like seeing the whole world!”

“Have you been there before?”

“I read a book about it.”

“Very well. We’ll leave in a few minutes and get back before the school day is over.”

“Awesomes!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I threw in the Welsh because I was learning some words in Welsh in a class.  
> meddwl dros dro o fy ffrindiau = temporary mind of my friends
> 
> I'd love to know what you thought!


	11. Where the Magic Sidewalk Ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter for you lovely people! Shoutout to Selina Novella for inspiring part of this chapter with her comment about Darcy and her mom discussing the list of schools. I hope you all enjoy!

“Loki, your costume looks too good. I mean, we want it to be believable, but it still has to look like we’re just kids.”

“We’re not just kids. _I_ am a teenager now.”

“We’re so getting you one of those birthday buttons so everyone has to wish you happy birthday.”

“I still do not understand why we must disguise ourselves to go to this ‘Epcot’.”

“They’re not disguises! They’re costumes. People where them here, because it is socially acceptable to dress up at Disney.”

“Whatever you say, my dear.”

“Excellent, now turn me into Mulan, Shang”

~~~~~~~~~

By the time they got to the China area of the theme park, Loki’s brightly colored birthday button had garnered him no fewer than 156 birthday wishes. The ‘real Mulan’ made 157. Truthfully, it was an exhilarating and exhausting experience. He had wanted to linger in Norway, finding the Viking ride quite enjoyable and the whole environment somewhat reminiscent of the realm eternal’s. However, Darcy had dragged him to an attraction called Soarin’, where one apparently sat in a large contraption and imagined they were flying. Currently, they were playing near the fountains with the bouncing water. The sun had just started to set.

“Loki, I read about this really, really cool place online that we have to go see now that it’s getting dark.”

“Lead the way.” He watched as Darcy consulted their map until she pointed triumphantly towards an expanse of blank pavement. As the sun set further, he noticed small fiber optic lighting embedded in the sidewalk. 

As the fiber optics glowed mystifying colors and shifted through undulating patterns, he heard a small child say, “Look, mommy, a magic sidewalk!” Magic, indeed. 

“Darcy, what time did you need to be home?”

“My mom gets off of work around 5 o’clock and then she picks Darius up and comes home.”

“Darcy, it’s nearly 8 o’clock.”

“Oh, um, any chance that she didn’t notice?”

“I don’t think we’ll have that kind of luck.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Hi, Mom, I’m back!” She said, trying to sound as cheerful and guiltless as possible. She locked the front door behind her.

It was her father who entered the hallway first and reprimanded, “Darcy Elizabeth Lewis, do you have any idea what time it is?”

Her mother’s shrill voice interrupted, “You were staying home sick, today! Do you have the slightest clue how worried we’ve been?”

Her father’s voice boomed, “I told you, Emma. She’s too irresponsible to be off at some school in who knows where.”

“What school?”

“Honey, we were _going_ to wait to bring this up with Darcy over dinner, _remember_?”

“She didn’t show up to dinner. _Or didn’t you notice_?”

“What school?”

“Of _course_ I noticed! Honestly, this is no way to-“

“I’M GOING TO MY ROOM!” She yelled as loud as she could, ran up the stairs, and slammed the door. Darcy collapsed on the bed and buried her face in her pillow. A soft pat on the back. She mumbled, “Go away, Fenrir.”

“I’m not Fenrir.”

“I thought you were going back to Asgard.”

“I wanted to make sure there was no incident in your late arrival.”

“Well, there was incident.”

“I know.”

“What were they talking about, Loki?”

“It seems to me that much of their distress is from an earlier disagreement.”

“What did my dad mean about a school?”

“I can do some poking about downstairs, if it will help you feel better.”

Darcy nodded.

~~~~~~~~~

Loki grimaced when he found the paper with the list of boarding schools. On the one hand, he was glad that people were recognizing how intelligent Darcy was, but on the other, he was afraid of losing her. The portal was to Darcy’s room. And if the Darcy’s room was no longer Darcy’s room, then it would be a portal to nothing. 

“Darcy, I found this.” He handed her the paper. Her face was wet, though not with tears. He suspected she had gone to the bathroom to wash her face and try to compose herself.

“Wow.”

“They seem like quite excellent learning institutions.”

“Yeah, but the rooms probably don’t come with a portal to another realm.”

“That would be most unlikely.”

“Yeah.”

“Darcy, do you want me to stay tonight instead of returning to Asgard?”

“You still have your birthday feast.”

“I’m certain that this far exceeds a feast in importance.”

Darcy nodded again, but Loki suspected that her mind was to preoccupied to be fully listening. He magicked his clothes into sleeping garments and conjured a warm mug of tea for Darcy.

“Here, drink this. You’ll feel better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta da! Can't you just picture Loki dressed up as Shang? Also, I had to throw the viking ride in there even though they're getting rid of it as a tribute to its awesomeness. And I've got to say, I'm somewhat disappointed that my dorm doesn't have a portal under the bed. :P 
> 
> *sips tea* I'd love to hear what you think, so comment away!


	12. Sif is Sif. Darcy is Darcy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter comes from an idea I had after reading Q_it's latest chapter, where Sif mentions that she had questioned Darcy about Loki. ;)

Loki had just enough time after he heard the knock to make himself invisible again. The door opened and Darcy’s mother walked in. He allowed a small sigh of relief that he was awake enough to hide himself. He couldn’t imagine the wrath of Darcy’s mother if she had walked in to find Darcy with a boy in her bed.

“Darcy?” Her mother patted her shoulder.

“Mmmggrrmmm.”

“Darcy, it’s time for school.”

“No school don’t wanna- wanna go… Asgard…”

“Darcy, remember our agreement? You said you’d go to school today.”

“Too tired.”

“Darcy, you’d better be ready in 30 minutes or you’ll be late.” Her mother left the room. 

Loki woke his friend up. “Darcy, let’s get you ready for school.”

“Can’t you send a doppleganger?”

“Darcy, after yesterday, I think you need to spend some time on Midgard. And you made a promise; surely you won’t forsake your honor over something so small.” He braided her hair carefully again, opting for a pattern reminiscent of vines of ivy.

“Loki, I really want to go to Asgard today.”

“Darcy, I think it’s more that you’d rather just not be on Midgard.”

“I don’t like it when my parents are arguing over me. Don’t you hate it when your parents argue?”

“I don’t know.”

“They _never_ argue?”

“I’ve only ever seen them argue once. They didn’t know I was there.”

“Oh.”

Loki finished packing her book bag. “Now, once you get home from school, we can go to Asgard.” He smiled.

~~~~~~~~~

Darcy was lying on her back in the grass beside the portal. 

“I’m so happy to be here. Can I just lie here forever?” She said.

Loki wore a bemused expression as he replied from where he was standing, “I suspect you’d get rather bored.”

“True. So what’s on the agenda for today?”

“I thought you might just spend today in leisure. I have to go see Sigyn today, since I left rather abruptly yesterday. You could go see Sif or go out amongst the people, perhaps.”

“Ok, yeah, you should go see Sigyn. Tell her I say ‘hi and thanks for helping set up Loki’s birthday celebration.’”

“Of course. I shall see you later, then.”

~~~~~~~~~

For the second time that day, Darcy was lying on the ground. Sif offered her a hand up and Darcy stood, rubbing her shoulder where it had hit the ground initially. 

“I think that is enough for the day. Your stamina is wavering.” Sif said.

“Ok, I mean, if you’re tired.”

“Darcy,” Sif scoffed, “I’m quite alright. You, however, ought to focus more on stamina and strength building than on technique when you train in the future.”

“Psh, fine. Let’s just sit down for a while and chat.”

They sipped water and Sif spoke first, “So…… Lady Darcy, I confess, I’ve been meaning to ask what is betwixt you and Prince Loki?”

“Well he’s probably in the library or garden, so right now a whole lot of castle.”

“That is not my meaning.”

“Well what is?”

“Are you and Loki involved?”

“I’m his advisor, remember?” Darcy wondered why Sif was being so weird.

“That is not my meaning either. I think this dancing about the subject implies something.”

“Sif, can you please just speak Asgardian?”

“I am!”

“Well I don’t understand what you’re asking!”

Sif huffed in frustration, “Are you and Loki romantically involved?”

“Ew, no! We’re just insane best friends. He’s dating Sigyn.”

“You two spend a lot of time together alone.”

“I’m his advisor, Sif. Besides, if that is how one judges romantic intent, then surely you and Thor are courting.”

“Ach, a fair point, Darcy. Though, I am still not content in your answer.”

“We learn to be content cause it’s the only answer I’ve got.”

“Well if not Loki, then who do you favor?”

“I don’t favor anyone. Who do you favor if not Thor?” Darcy retorted.

“I do not think it is proper to discuss such a thing right now.”

“Oh my gosh, SIF HAS A CRUSH!”

“Quiet! Do you wish the whole castle to hear you?”

“Yup!” she replied cheerily, “SIF HAS A CRUSH! SIF HAS A CR-“ 

Sif clapped her hand over Darcy’s mouth. “That’s enough, Darcy. I think perhaps we’ve rested long enough. Let us return to sparring.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed! Comments are always welcome. :)


	13. Darcy's Day of Birth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long! I'm sure you all know how busy life can be. Enjoy!

“See you in a few hours!” Grace shouted across the school parking lot.

Darcy was having a sleepover tonight for her 13th birthday. A few hours. Darcy had a headache just thinking about it; there was so much left to do. She was also a bit disappointed that Loki couldn’t come to the sleepover, though at least he was going to help her get ready for her party this afternoon. 

Once she got home, Darcy went straight up to her room. Her mom had left to go get cake mix and icing. Darcy grinned mischievously. Her mother had, in fact, bought the cake supplies in advance, but Darcy needed her out of the house so she and Loki could decorate. She may or may not have asked Loki to take the original cake stuff to Asgard last time he visited. 

“Happy Day of Birth, Lady Darcy.”

“Lokes!” She flung her arms around him for a hug. “Ready to decorate? I figured you could magic everything up like I drew in this sketch, ok?”

“Of course.” He smiled. “And there is also the small matter of your present.”

“Yes! What is it? Can I open it?”

“Hmm… let you open it now or torture you with the suspense all afternoon, I wonder which I’ll choose.”

“C’mon, Loki, it’s my birthday.”

“I’m still going to make you wait.”

“Meanie.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Ah, yes, I’m just so mean that I came all the way from across the universe just to magically hang paper streamers and Midgardian party décor.”

“Did you finish that, by the way?”

“Yes, and I changed the colors to your favorites.”

“Ok, perfect. Now, I’ve already tidied up my room, so the next thing I’ll need is to figure out what to wear. It’s a PJ party.”

“You mean that you’ll be entertaining guests in your nightwear?” Loki looked puzzled.

“Yeah, that’s why it’s called a sleepover. Don’t you guys have sleepovers on Asgard?”

“No. It’s impotant to look regal in front of party guests.”

“PJs can be regal.”

“Oh really.”

“Yup.” She held up the space print t-shirt and navy PJ shorts she’d selected from her drawer. “See, these don’t look regal right now, but if you braid my hair really fancy, they will.”

“Then I suppose I have no choice but to make your hair look really spectacular this evening, my dear.”

~~~~~~~~~

Loki finished weaving the last bit of hair into the elaborate design he’d concocted. It had take longer than usual, since he had woven in bits of ribbon that matched her PJs, along with a few silver, sparkly, miniature fabric roses. 

“Wow, Loki, you’ve really outdone yourself this time.”

“Well, it is your birthday.”

The sound of the front door opening climbed the stairs. “Darcy, I’m home! Decorations look great! Are you almost ready?”

“Yup, almost. I’ll be downstairs in a sec. Don’t put any of the cake bowls in the sink! I want to lick them.”

“Crazy child.” Loki said, shaking his head.

“I’m not a child. I’m a teen now.”

“Still crazy.”

“Absolutely.”

“Ready for your present?”

“Yes! Yes! Yes! A million gazillion times yes!”

“Close your eyes.”

Darcy felt something cold brush against her skin. She concentrated, trying to figure out what the gift was. She could feel Loki’s breath near the back of her neck. His fingers brushed the back of her collarbone. Something with a bit of weight was on her chest, tucked under her t-shirt.

“Ok, open your eyes.”

A thin, delicate, and strong silver chain encircled her neck. She pulled the pendant out from her t-shirt and saw that it was a deep emerald-colored stone with hints of cobalt blue, polished to shine just enough to catch the eye. 

“It’s beautiful. Thank you, Loki.”

“It suits you.”

“I love it. I’m going to wear it all the time.”

“I’m glad you like it. The stone comes from the dwarves. I acquired it from one of them the last time their delegation was in Asgard.”

Darcy gave him another hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the sleepover probably and then after that, I'm debating moving the story to be between chapters 23 and 24 of Q_it's instead of staying between chapters 22 and 23. Your opinions are always more than welcome. :)
> 
> Oh, and the next chapter may or may not involve some truth or dare. If you have any truths or dares for Darcy, put them in the comments and I'll try to include them.


	14. Truth, Lies, or Dare?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun writing this one! Enjoy :D

“Truth or dare, Darcy.” Grace was sitting across the circle from Darcy. They’d been playing truth or dare for a little bit now. So far, most of the questions had focused on crushes and movie stars and if you had to kiss someone in school to save the world who would you pick?

“Truth.”

“How the heck do you get those braids to be so perfect and insanely complicated?”

“Dude, I have no idea.”

“It’s called **_truth_** , Darcy.” Grace threw a piece of popcorn at her from across the circle.

“Well, my friend did them for me since it was my birthday.”

“Your friend, eh?” Grace grinned mischievously.

“Grace….”

“By friend, you mean that kid, Loki, that I met, right?”

“Possibly.” 

“That’s not a true answer.”

“You used your truth up on the braids thing.”

“Fine, I’ll just have to ask on my next turn.”

“Who says I’ll pick truth?”

“You’re absolutely insane, Darce.”

“That seems to be the general consensus, yes.”

It took a while for the game to get back to Grace and in the meantime all Darcy had had to do was lick the wall from a rather tame dare.

“Truth or dare, Darcy? And you know what I’m asking about.” Grace asked once more.

“Dare.”

“Oooh… let’s see… your dare…. Your dare is to call Loki and let us talk to him.”

“Grace, no, he’s probably asleep!”

“It’s only 9:30.”

“He’s from a different time zone.”

“Yeah, but you said he did your braids for your birthday so he’s got to be here today, at least.”

“Do I have to?”

“It’s a dare.” The other girls looked quite curious. They were Darcy’s friends, of course, but they didn’t know her that well. And definitely not as well as Grace did. Still boys were a fairly popular subject at lunch, though Darcy couldn’t quite understand why.

“Fine, fine, I’m calling.” She had never called Loki before, so she wasn’t sure if it would work, since he texted her through magic, not a phone. She tried anyway and to her surprise it started ringing. 

“Darcy?”

“Hi Loki.”

“How are you projecting your voice all the way to Asgard?”

“I’m calling you on my cellphone.”

“Ah, what is the reason of this? Shouldn’t you be with your friends?”

“I am. It’s a game. Truth or dare. I told you about it.”

“Yes, yes you did.”

“I got dared to call you so my friends could talk to you.”

“Ok then…” Loki sounded a bit confused.

“I’m putting you on speaker phone. Say hi.”

“Hello, Darcy’s friends.”

A chorus of hi’s from the other girls resounded. Grace, as per usual took charge of the inquiry.

“So, Loki, did you really do Darcy’s braids?”

“Yes.”

“And what do you think of Darcy?”

“I think she is intelligent, charming, politically astute, cunning, insane, and likely turning bright red right now.”

Darcy threw her pillow at the phone, causing Loki to hear a muffled ‘thump’.

“That was me throwing a pillow at you, Loki.”

“So I was correct.”

“I can hear you smirk over the phone.”

Grace interjected, “Ok, lovebirds, enough bickering. Loki: do you like Darcy?”

“Of course; Darcy is my best friend.”

“Someone’s dodging the question.” She said in a singsongy voice, “Have you ever wanted to kiss her?”

“He doesn’t have to answer that question.” Darcy said.

“Aw, come on. You’re no fun Darce.” Grace pleaded.

“Nope. You guys will mock either answer.”

“Well,” Loki said, “it sounds as if our conversation is over. Hopefully the SwordQueen is forgiving for this next part.”

One of the other girls, Cecilia, whispered, “What does that mean?”

Darcy answered, grumbling, “It means he’s going to do something mischievous and annoying.”

“Nonsense, Darcy, I was merely going to tell you happy birthday and congratulate you on not letting them find out about your boyfriend, Fandral, in the truth or dare game.” And then Loki hung up.

“He’s so, so dead next time I see him.” Darcy remarked to the group before the endless questions started back up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought; I dare you :P I hope you enjoyed it and comments are always welcome. :)


	15. Finding HP and SQ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since the last update. 
> 
> So, this chapter takes place after Q_it's Chapter 23 in There's A God Under My Bed. Enjoy!

“Sir, the security feed has been wiped.” Agent Sohil pulled up the error code on screen.

Coulson raised his eyebrows. This was too strange to be a coincidence. “Agent Sitwell, keep running through museum footage from the city. Agent Sohil, head down to the lab and oversee the DNA sequencing on the hair.”

“Sir, there are parts of the museums’ footage that’s missing, too.”

“Which museum?”

“World War II.”

“I was there today.”

“Sir?”

“We need to find these kids. I want the DNA sequencing at top priority and all agents who spoke with them to start profile sketches since our video seems to be gone.” The girl had seriously unnerved Coulson with her knowledge about his Captain America cards and now to find out that they had been at the same museum as him earlier- let’s just say that he hoped these kids were going to turn out worth all the extra paperwork.

~~~~~~~~~ 

The bus rolled along a nondescript road. It had already been a long ride and most of her classmates were asleep. There was a movie on the tiny tv screens that one of the teachers had put on- something that had to do with history. Darcy was staring out the window. It had been a long day yesterday and quite frankly Darcy was still processing. SHIELD, the info on the tesseract, and Loki. At least the info on the tesseract would be waiting for her when she got home. If it weren’t for that, she’d have been tempted to find some way to stay in DC. Darius was annoying. Her parents constantly argued with her and bemoaned the fact that she was a teenager. 

Sometimes, it was so tempting to ask Loki to create a permanent double for her on Midgard so that she could live on Asgard, literally worlds away from her family. 

Suddenly the lights came on in the bus. “Alright kids, we’re about a half hour from school, so start gathering your things and text your parents to make sure they’re there to pick you up.”

Grace groaned in the seat next to Darcy. Darcy poked her, “Wakey, wakey, free range eggs without bakey.” 

“You’re too awake. Don’t you ever sleep?”

“Yep, I get a few hours every other weekend.”

“Text my mom and make sure she’s awake to pick us up, ok?”

“Sure thing. Shall I gather our stuff, too?”

Grace nodded. “Wake me up when we pull into the parking lot.”

~~~~~~~~~

Loki closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Darcy truly could not lie to save her life. It was troubling, since this would no doubt be the only occasion where lying proved vital. Yet, he did not think his conscience could ever bear teaching Darcy how to lie; there was something so refreshing about her relentless honesty and Loki liked knowing he could depend on it. 

~~~~~~~~~

“Agent Sohil, your report?”

“The hair shows a positive match for a Darcy Elizabeth Lewis, age 13.” Agent Sohil tapped a few keys and a file came alive on the screen. 

“She already has a SHIELD file?” Coulson asked as he took in the school photo and biographical information.

“She’s a candidate for SHIELD Prep, very intelligent.”

“What about the boy?”

“Nothing. He’s not a student at her school, nor any school in the area.”

“Did you find any connection between Darcy Lewis and ‘SQ’? It might help us find the boy based on ‘HP’.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but so far there appears to be no relation between the girl’s chosen initials and her actual information.”

“Very well, use the initials in the boy’s file and make sure to add the identifying sketches from the agents who saw him.”

“Yes, sir. Any other actions you’d like me to take?”

“Well, it is summer. If Lewis is planning on switching schools, she would probably make the switch over the summer.”

“Yes, sir?”

“I think it’s time we paid a recruiting visit to Miss Lewis and her parents. Summarize what you have here so I can add it to my report for the director.”

“Yes, sir.” Agent Sohil quit the room.

Coulson picked up his phone. “Hill, I think we’ve got the girl. We’re going to send in a recruiting team for SHIELD Prep. I want someone who has seen her but that she hasn’t seen.”

“Sounds good, Phil, but she’ll make the connection between SHIELD Prep and SHIELD. I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to give everything the same acronym.”

“But her parents won’t make the connection.”

“Won’t she tell them?”

“She might, but that in itself will give us valuable intel on whether her parents are involved.”

“Ok, we’ll need a SHIELD Prep Student Ambassador to come along.”

“Someone friendly. And a girl, not a boy- she seems too close to HP for that to work.”

“I’ll talk to Weaver and have her send me someone. Let’s schedule this for a few weeks from now, right after school lets out.”

“Sounds good. I’ll finish my report and add the trip to the active missions list.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta da! Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. I have a feeling that and AoS fans will love who Weaver recommends for the recruiting mission. ;)
> 
> As always, comments are awesome. Thanks. :)


	16. To the Parents of Darcy Lewis

Emma Lewis found the letter on a Monday, about a week after school had let out.  
 _  
To the parents of Darcy Lewis:_

_I am writing to inform you that Darcy has been offered a full scholarship to attend Students of High Intelligence’s Educational and Leadership Development Preparatory Academy for the upcoming fall and spring terms._

_SHIELD Prep focuses on preparing the youngest, brightest minds, like Darcy’s, to enter SHIELD’s Science and Technology, Communications, or Operations academies. The quality of learning at SHIELD Prep will provide a very strong qualification on any resume. Classes and programs emphasize research and college-level or above caliber material. Furthermore, our academy develops the qualities that students need to not only succeed academically but become true leaders of the 21st century._

_We would like to send a representative of our academy and student ambassador to speak with your family and answer any questions you may have. You will find an envelope enclosed where you can respond with a day that would be convenient for a representative delegation to visit. We look forward to hearing from you and congratulations on your daughter’s academic excellence!_

_With warm regards,_  
Professor Weaver  
Academic Director 

 

She had thought that the list of schools was the end of it. The argument over whether to send Darcy to another school had faded to the background, but now it would certainly be popping up again. Goodness knows that the concerns of Darcy’s teachers had not stopped. And lately, with the way Darcy had been acting- going out undetected at all hours, nowhere to be found, not to mention the influence Emma feared Grace was having as well as Darcy’s strange mood shifts- well, would sending Darcy to an excellent educational institution really be a bad thing? She would be bound to have more supervision and could be surrounded by good influences. Emma sighed. This was going to be an interesting dinner discussion. 

~~~~~~~~~

“Darcy, have you thought about next fall?”

Darcy put down her forkful of mashed potatoes. “What do you mean?” She didn’t like where this was going.

“Well, remember those schools that were interested in you?”

“Uh-huh, I thought Dad said I wasn’t responsible enough.”

Her mom bit her lip. “Well, you are much more responsible now and we’ve discussed it some more. We think it might be an excellent opportunity for you.” Darcy doubted that her father was entirely happy about this, but still- this was insane. She couldn’t go off to some school for the super smart. She barely had time enough to keep up with her stupid homework what with being a royal advisor and all.

“I don’t know. I like my classes here and my friends.”

“Darcy, you always complain about your classes. And I know you and Grace are good friends, but I’m sure you’ll make some new friends.”

“It sounds like you’ve already made up your mind about it.”

“Well, one of the schools is sending a representative and student ambassador sometime soon. I sent in the form and told them they were welcome to stop by anytime in the next couple of weeks.”

“It’s my education! That’s not up to you.”

“Actually, the letter was addressed to your father and I. Besides, it’s just an informational meeting. Though, I will say that they’ve offered you a full scholarship. It seems like they really want you to come.”

“I can’t believe you.”

“Darcy,”

“No.”

“Sweetie, can’t we just discuss this?”

“May I be excused?”

“You haven’t finished your mashed potatoes.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Fine.”

~~~~~~~~~

She didn’t know what else to do besides flop down on her bed and text Loki. So that’s what she did.

Loki, can you take me to Asgard tonight?

What’s wrong? I’m on my way.

Parents. I’ll tell you more on the ride to the palace.

Very well, I shall see you soon.

A few minutes later, Loki crawled out from under the bed. 

“You know, the space under your bed seems to be smaller than it used to.”

“Well, you are getting older. Doesn’t matter, though. My parents want to send me away.”

“Darcy, surely they could not want to exile one as amazing as you.”

“Ugh, they want me to go to some smarty pants school.”

“It could prove beneficial, Darcy. You will have to get specialized education on Midgard to ever be accepted as its leader.” 

“But the portal is here!” Darcy said, as she and Loki crawled through the portal to Asgard.

“There might be one at your school.”

“Come on, Loki. We both know how unlikely that would be.”

“Is it decided yet?”

“Not officially, but they set up a meeting with a representative. They want me gone, Lokes.”

“I’m sorry.” He said, as much for Darcy as for himself. She hugged him tighter and rested her head on his shoulder as they rode back on Hel towards the palace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will definitely have the recruiting trip in it. I still haven't decided where to go from there so feel free to share ideas or things you'd be interested in seeing in the comments. I'd love to hear what you think. :)


	17. Jemma Simmons, Student Ambassador

Jemma Simmons did not get nervous- at least not when she got to represent SHIELD Prep. She loved getting to be a student ambassador. She got to travel, impress people, and meet some of the potential younger students who could become her friends and drink tea with. 

This recruiting trip was different. She’d been briefed by high level SHIELD agents. This time, her mission wasn’t just to sell the prospect of attending SHIELD Prep. This time, she had a memorized list of questions to try to sneak into the conversation. This time, she was equipped with tech: trackers to plant, bugs to leave behind, and goodness knows what else. 

“We’re 20 minutes out, Simmons.”

“Yes, Agent Hill.”

“Remember, it’s Ms. Hill amongst the civilians.”

Jemma nodded. She’d memorized all the protocols for this op. She took a deep breath as the house from the file loomed closer at the end of the street.

~~~~~~~~~

The knock sounded promptly at 1pm. 

“Loki, that’s got to be them.”

“Most probably.”

“I don’t want to go down there.”

“I know, my dear.”

Darcy’s mom called up the stairs for Darcy to come down. Darcy gave Loki a look of pure dread. 

He kissed her lightly on the forehead and said, “You’ll be fine. Text me when they’re gone.” And then, he vanished under the bed.

~~~~~~~~~

_Darcy Elizabeth Lewis, 13_  
Gifted academically notably in mathematics and political silence,  
Prone to drastic shifts of interest and disinterest  
Possible accessory to a breach in SHIELD’s mainframe 

The file details popped into Jemma’s head as the subject of the file came downstairs. 

“Hello, Darcy, I’m Ms. Hill and this is Jemma Simmons, one of our best student ambassadors.”

“Hi.” Darcy said, before plopping onto the living room couch.

“Won’t you have a seat?” Mrs. Lewis gestured towards the couch, quite obviously trying to hide her annoyance with Darcy’s attitude. “I can get us some tea or something else to drink if you’d like.”

“I’m fine, thank you.” Agent Hill smiled. “Since you’ve already read through the basic information, it might be most effective if I address the logistal concerns you might have, Mrs. Lewis, and the girls can chat about anything Darcy is curious about.”

“Excellent. Darcy, why don’t you take Jemma upstairs to your room?”

Darcy got up without comment and started up the stairs. Jemma followed.

“You’ve got a lovely bedroom; your library is especially nice.”

“Thanks.”

“Did you have any questions about SHIELD Prep, the social atmosphere perhaps? The lab spaces? The instructors?”

“Oh, um, not really. I don’t want to go, honestly. Sorry, I know you came all the way out here from… Britain?”

“I’m from Britain, but SHIELD Prep’s campus is here in the States. Why don’t you want to attend SHIELD Prep?”

“I’m sure it’s a great place, but I’d miss home a lot.”

“I missed the UK terribly when I came over here; you can’t find a proper cup of tea anywhere.”

“Exactly, if I went to SHIELD Prep, I’d be missing out on so much from the foods I’m used to, to my friends, my pets, a whole other world.”

There was something in her wording that seemed amiss to Jemma. And why did she keep pulling the blanket off the bed so it draped onto the floor. It was clearly a nervous gesture, but a strange one. Time to start getting the intel. “Would you mind if I sit?” She gestured to the bed and a look of consternation flashed across Darcy’s face for a split second before her smile returned.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“So what do you do for fun?”

“I read. I play soccer.”

“I love reading. Do you get a lot of homework?”

“It’s not a ton, but I do a lot of studying on my own and I tend to put that first.”

“I did that for ages before SHIELD Prep. Now the homework is properly challenging, though. I have a coding problem that’s been driving me crazy for my ComSci class.” Jemma, in fact, did not have a comsci class, but this was a way to see if Darcy knew enough code to help with hacking SHIELD.

“Isn’t it summer?”

“Well, most of the students go home, but I usually stay and work on research projects with Fitz- he’s my lab partner. You two would probably get along famously.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Well, you have a somewhat similar affection for sarcasm and humor.”

“It sounds like you two are really good friends.”

“Oh yes, though people thinking that we’re dating can get tiresome. Can’t a guy and girl be best friends?” Jemma grinned in her mind. Get people to talk about themselves by talking about yourself. This was bound to answer yet another question from the list she’d memorized: the relationship between Darcy and HP.

“Tell me about it.”

“It’s happened to you.”

“Yeah, my best friend and I get asked that all the time even though he’s courting someone else.”

‘Courting’ sounded strange intermixed with Darcy’s vernacular. “Wow, I couldn’t imagine that.”

“Yeah.”

~~~~~~~~~

Emma Lewis was impressed. The degree of professionalism, the detail with which her questions were answered, and the school itself- very, very impressive. It had been roughly forty minutes.

Ms. Hill extended her hand to shake, “Thank you for having us, Mrs. Lewis. I hope we’ll get to see Darcy again in a few months. My card and contact info is in the pamphlet I’ve left. It’s been a pleasure meeting you.”

“Thank you for coming! I must say I’m very impressed by the program.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Oh, I’ve almost forgotten!” Jemma reached into her pocket. “Here: a souvenir SHIELD Prep pen! And let me give you my email in case you have questions or just want to chat.” She jotted it down on a spare piece of paper. “Oh, and I can put my telly in you contacts if you want.”

“Um, ok.” She handed Jemma her phone.

Jemma tried her best to keep her face calm. She had to put in the info while installing the chip. Agent Hill would be so impressed; getting the chip in had been deemed unlikely in terms of success probability. “There you go.”

“Cool. Nice meeting you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments are the best, so if you've got the time to leave one, that'd be amazing.
> 
> Jemma: Also, as much research as I do, I do get bored on occasion, so comments are quite entertaining.
> 
> Fitz: C'mon, Jemma, just leave the poor readers in peace.
> 
> Jemma: But Fitz! You know how much fun reading the comments are during the commercial breaks when we're watching Dr. Who. 
> 
> Fitz: Yeah, but you don't have to tell the whole world we wait around for people to comment whilst abusing Netflix instead of studying. 
> 
> Jemma: Honestly, Fitz, it's as if you aren't even listening.
> 
> Fitz: Well why don't you just mix up some lab solution to make people comment.
> 
> Jemma: Of course! Fitz, why didn't I think of that?
> 
> Fitz: It's okay. You've been busy. And you're not a quantum physicist. Completely understandable. 
> 
> Jemma: Hilarious.
> 
> Fitz: Oh come on, get a proper sense of humor. It's like you're from another planet.


	18. Coulson Doesn't Speak Intern and Thor is an Egg

“Ears are live, trackers hot. Get me some of the IT interns to start combing through the data on the cellphone.” Coulson smiled; it was time for some answers.”

“Yes, sir.”

His phone rang. “Agent Hill, report?”

“Positive ID. It’s her. Her parents seem oblivious to any involvement. Simmons is writing her report now.”

“Great, fax me the report as soon as it’s done. See you in a few hours.” He hung up.

The IT intern spoke up, “Sir, she’s making a text.”

“Well?”

“Sir, it’s encoded- not with a standard encryption either.”

“I’ll get someone from linguistics up here. Who’s the recipient?”

“It’s not going to anywhere I can detect.”

“Is that intern for you need a superior to look at it?”

“I’d welcome my boss’s input, but I mean that this message isn’t using any known satellite that SHIELD can access records for.”

“Anything on the audio feed?”

“No, it sounded like she set the phone on a table or something.”

A few minutes later, the audio feed got interesting:  
“Thanks for coming.”  
“Of course. Shall we?”  
Some muffled sounds, blankets being shifted, then nothing.

The intern- Phil should probably find out what his name was, finally said, “Sir, external cameras confirm that no one entered the Lewis house. Voice pattern recognition matches the first voice to Darcy. The second is unidentified.”

“That’s him.”

“Him who, sir?”

“HP.”

~~~~~~~~~

Darcy had told him about her SHIELD interaction, but she still seemed distracted by it.

“What is the matter, Darcy?”

“Jemma seemed really nice. It’s just, I wonder if I didn’t know what I do about SHIELD if I’d actually be considering going.”

“I see.”

“I mean, I could never just leave the portal behind, but we’d find a way to make that work.”

“Darcy?”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t we do something to take your mind off this?”

She nodded and he led them to the sparring fields. They hardly ever had time to spar together anymore; one of them was always busy. As they armed themselves, they discussed the realm.

“Darcy, the Midsummer’s Feast is coming up.”

“Yes, yes it is.”

“We should speak at it; a lot of lower and middle class guests will be in attendance.”

“I know.”

“You’re still distracted by SHIELD.”

“Let’s just spar already.”

And so they did.

After roughly an hour, they were interrupted by Sif, Thor, and Fandral. 

“Brother! I was not aware you were sparring. I shall suit up.”

“I’m afraid we were just about to go inside for the day.”

“Of course you are afraid to face the mighty Thor.” He said in jest.

Darcy rolled her eyes, “Thor, stop being an egg.” 

“That sounds like a challenge, Lady Darcy.”

“Ugh, you’re such a boy.”

“Come now, Darcy, surely that is not a bad thing; you spend so much time with my brother.”

Fandral broke into the conversation, “Aye, but Loki practices magic so often that perhaps Lady Darcy can not tell he is a boy.”

Darcy opened her mouth to respond, but Loki gave her a look and spoke first, “Fine, if you wish to spar, we shall. Darcy and myself will battle you and Thor. Sif may choose whatever side she wishes.”

“Very well. Sif, come join us.”

Darcy watched in dismay as Sif joined their side. She, Sif, and Sigyn were besties and Sigyn and Loki were courting. Why wouldn’t she choose their side?

“Are you ready, Darcy?”

“No. Loki, are you crazy? I can’t defeat Sif; I could probably take Fandral, but that would leave you with Thor and Sif.”

“It shall be fine. Here is the plan: First, the both of us will quickly rush after Fandral and disable him quickly; we’re faster than Thor and Sif. Then, I will take Sif; she is too familiar with your fighting style. You will keep Thor from interrupting Sif and I until I beat her and then I shall step in. Ok?”

“Yups.”

Thor’s voice called out from across the small field, “Are you ready, brother?”

“Oh, yes.”

Loki and Darcy sprang into action. Fandral was down in a minute. Loki and Sif began to spar off to one side while Thor and Darcy began their own fight.

“Lady Darcy, I do not wish to harm you. Therefore, I will let you step aside now.”

Darcy hit him in the chest with her sword in response. The next time she swung at him, her blade met Mjlonir. The force of the collision threw her to the ground. Loki was still occupied with Sif. Thor swung his hammer around his head and went to bring it down where Darcy was sprawled. It would have injured an Asgardian, but to Darcy, the blow would be devastating. She rolled aside at the last second and was seized by an idea. She sat on Mjolnir while it was still in the ground. The momentum from such a swing had meant Thor couldn’t lift it as quickly. Thor had no trouble lifting Mjolnir with her on it, but he didn’t realize what and exposed position it put him in. She landed several jabs before Thor went to pummel the hammer- and her- into the ground. She leapt off. She needed to bide time until Loki was finished with Sif. By the looks of their duel it would be only a minute or so more. 

“Thor, your bootlace is untied!”

Thor looked don, Darcy got in another swing at his shoulder. 

“There is nothing wrong with my boot, Darcy. You shall pay for such a petty trick.”

Darcy dodged his next few blows. She tried to parry again, but once again Thor caught the blow with her hammer and she was pushed back to the ground. She tried again to dodge, but Thor sped up his swing at the last instant and the hammer caught her ankle. She screamed. 

Loki heard Darcy scream from behind him. Sif heard it, too. The distraction of that allowed him to trip her and land a few blows to end their duel. He ran to Thor and Darcy. Darcy- foolish, wonderful Darcy- had not conceded, but stood in a half-kneeling position with her blade raised. Thor was swinging his hammer around, prepared for another strike. This time, his hammer met both Loki’s and Darcy’s blade. Loki maneuvered the fight so that Thor’s back was to Darcy. Thor assumed that he could ignored her because she was so injured. Loki backed Thor closer to Darcy. She reached out with her sword and struck him in the back, causing Thor to stumble and turn towards her. Loki struck, then, and Thor, on the ground with two blades at his throat, conceded. 

Loki was at Darcy’s side in an instant. He felt her ankle, assessing the damage. “Darcy, we must get you to the healers.”

“No, I want to hear them apologize first.”

“Darcy,”

“Loki, we earned this.”

It was Thor who delivered the apology on behalf of their side. “We apologize, brother, for the comments made against you.”

“Thank you, Thor.”

He turned once again to Darcy. “Now let us go to the healers.”

“No, I can’t”

He lifted Darcy up to carry her to the healers. “You’re going.”

“They’ll be able to tell that I’m not Asgardian.” She whispered. “You can do it, right, Loki?”

“This is a very serious injury.”

“Well I can’t go to the healers and my mom won’t believe that I did this while in my room.”

“There is somewhere else we can go.”

“Where?”

“My mother.”

“Ok.”

Loki, looked at the tears Darcy was trying and failing to hold back.

“It will be okay, Darcy.”

“I know. It really, really hurts, though.”

Loki felt so guilty. It was defending his honor that had caused this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, nothing like a SHIELD intern. I hope you enjoyed and don't be afraid to leave a comment. :)
> 
> Thor: Did someone say they were afraid to leave a comment for the mighty Thor?
> 
> No, Thor, shush. It's a figure of speech.
> 
> Thor: That sounds like a challenge, puny author.
> 
> Not everything is a challenge, Thor!
> 
> Thor: We shall decide this in glorious battle!
> 
> No, no we shall not.
> 
> Thor: Your bootlace is untied.
> 
> I'm wearing fuzzy socks, not boots.
> 
> Thor: I grow weary with this banter. Leave a comment: for Asgard!
> 
> *facepalm* Sorry about Thor, everyone. He tends to get out of hand.


	19. I am so sorry

Darcy’s ankle felt much better. It was still throbbing dully, but she could walk on it, albeit painfully. She and Loki were riding back to the portal on Hel, when Loki finally spoke up, “Darcy, I am so sorry.”

“Loki, it’s not your fault; it’s Thor’s.”

“You fought to defend my honor. You didn’t concede.”

“Yeah, that’s what best friends do.”

Loki didn’t respond. He used levitating magic to get her down off of Hel as painlessly as possible and was very careful about it going through the portal. Of course, Darcy being Darcy, she tripped on the SHIELD Prep pen she had thrown on the floor in her annoyance earlier. 

“Stupid pen.” She grumbled.

Loki picked it up. He pulled his index finger to his lips in a shushing motion and motioned for Darcy to sit on the bed. He grabbed her whiteboard and marker and wrote:

_Darcy, there are listening devices in here. SHIELD must have planted them. Did you let them into your room?_

Darcy nodded.

_Very well. If they want to listen, they will hear what you want them to. Why don’t you say hello?_

Darcy grabbed the whiteboard.

_Yeah, I’ve got some choice things to say to them about violating my fourth amendment rights._

Loki handed the souvenir SHIELD Prep pen to Darcy as if it were a microphone- which, to be fair, it technically was.

“The Fourth Amendment guarantees, ‘The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.’ So, SHIELD, why is there a microphone in this souvenir pen you gave me, huh? I don’t appreciate this.”

Loki cast a spell to kill all the other bugs in the room, including the one on Darcy’s cellphone, besides the pen. Then, he spoke, “I am His Royal Highness Loki Odinson. Know this, SHIELD, you shall not harm or disturb Darcy Lewis. You will not invite her to your school. She is under the protection of Asgard and will be protected as any citizen of realm. And know this: she is under my protection. And if Agent Coulson is listening, then he can tell you not to underestimate me.”

He cast another spell to destroy the pen bug. 

“Um, Lokes, why did you tell them who you were?”

“I am tired of people thinking it is permissible to harm you.”

“Is this about Thor, still?”

“It is about your safety.”

Darcy tried to calm Loki down; the look on his face could only be described as a mix of fear and rage. “Loki, I chose to fight Thor. He doesn’t know I’m Midgardian; the blow would have been nothing if I were Asgardian.” 

“But you’re not!” 

He was shouting now. “You’re not Asgardian and there is nothing I can do to save you!” The desk lamp, alarm clock, and other items around her room were shaking. “Do you understand? I cannot protect you, Darcy Lewis!” 

Screw her ankle. Darcy wrapped Loki in a hug and they both collapsed onto the floor with Loki’s head on her shoulder. “Shh, Loki. I know. I may only be human, but you’re only Asgardian.”

“It’s not fair.” He, too, was whispering now. But it was not his usual conspiratorial whisper; it was a whisper that was screaming about the pain as quietly as it could. 

“I know.”

Loki cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this was as heart-wrenching to read as it was to write. I know it's short, but the next one should be up soon.
> 
> You're more than welcome to comment, even if it's to bemoan how I could do something like this to them.


	20. They could just be children... Or not...

A loud thump. Then, “Stupid pen.”

The SHIELD intern pressed the comm button. “Agent Coulson, sir, we’ve got activity.”

“On my way.”

A few seconds later Agents Coulson and Hill entered the room.

Hill spoke first, authoritatively, “Fill us in on what we’ve missed.”

“Yes, Agent Hill. At 8:36pm a loud thump was picked up by the microphone; from the sound analysis it would seem that the pen came into physical contact with another object. Then the subject said, ‘Stupid pen.’”

“How informative.” Maria’s voice was full of sarcasm. 

“It’s been silence since then.”

“Phil, you want to go back to the recruiting trip debriefing?”

“No, let’s listen for a few minutes.”

They didn’t have long to wait.

The confident, sassy voice of Darcy Lewis resounded through the room, “The Fourth Amendment guarantees, ‘The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.’ So, SHIELD, why is there a microphone in this souvenir pen you gave me, huh? I don’t appreciate this.”

Coulson’s face adopted the look it always did when he wished things that were happening weren’t. “Well, I guess she knows we’re onto her.”

Hill spoke, then, “How did she even notice the bug?”

“She’s smart. She could have the skills to recognize that kind of nanotech, especially if she’s connected to the breach in SHIELD.”

“I still don’t see how she could have found-“

Hill was interrupted by another voice from the audio feed, “I am His Royal Highness Loki Odinson.” 

Coulson froze. That voice, so calm, cool, and collected, had a distinctively livid edge to it; the tone sent chills up his spine. He whispered, “That’s him.”

“Know this, SHIELD, you shall not harm or disturb Darcy Lewis. You will not invite her to your school. She is under the protection of Asgard and will be protected as any citizen of realm. And know this: she is under my protection. And if Agent Coulson is listening, then he can tell you not to underestimate me.”

Agent Hill and the intern openly stared at Coulson. 

“Well then,” he said, “I guess they know who we are. That’s a direct threat to SHIELD.”

Maria said, “I’ll update His Royal Highness’s file.”

“Intern.”

“Yes, Agent Coulson.”

“Start combing through SHIELD’s databases for anything relating to ‘Asgard’ or ‘Loki Odinson’.”

Roughly a half hour passed. “It appears to be a pseudonym, sir. Nothing on SHIELD’s database, but a google search pulled this up:.”

Coulson said, “We really should start with google and then go to or database search next time.”

The main screen now showed what was on the intern’s screen: several windows filled with pages of Norse mythology.

Coulson rubbed his temples. “I’m getting too old for this.”

Hill spoke up, “They could just be children under someone’s thumb. Choosing such an obvious pseudonym seems rather juvenile.”

“We’ve tried doing this the quiet way. It’s time to stop wearing kid gloves around these two.”

He paced for a few minutes, then issued his orders. “I want a full tac unit and retrieval team ready by morning. I’ll be leading. We’re bringing Darcy Lewis and ‘Loki Odinson’ in.”

~~~~~~~~~

Loki had mostly stopped crying after a short while. 

“Darcy?”

“Yes, Lokes?”

“It seems I will not be able to apologize enough for my actions this evening.”

“Loki, I told you-“

“No, it is SHIELD. They’re sending a team tomorrow. I’m afraid we’ve upset them.”

“How do you know?”

“I used a spell to eavesdrop in reverse through the microphone.”

“Well, if you go grab our swords from Asgard we’ll have plenty of time to strategize.”

“Darcy!” 

She burst out in a fit of giggles. “I know we can’t just attack them, Loki! I’m not that stupid.”

“Well then what do you propose we actually do?”

“I don’t know.”

“We could turn ourselves in, answer their questions, and then be on our way.”

“I don’t think it will be that simple.”

“We could both disappear to Asgard.”

“Loki, what if they find the portal? You know they’re going to search through my room.”

“We could close it.”

“How?”

“Closing a portal is easy. Opening one is something I have not yet found any literature on.”

“So I’d be on Asgard permenantly.”

“Which is why that’s an unacceptable plan. This is my fault. You will not suffer for it.”

“Well neither will you.”

“Darcy-“

“Non-negotiable, Loki. We’re coming up with a new plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest, I'm still figuring out how this is going to all work out, but it's Loki and Darcy, so I'm sure they'll come up with something. Next chapter should be up today or tomorrow.
> 
>  
> 
> Intern: "Hi everyone! I'm the SHIELD intern and my name is-"
> 
> Coulson: "Intern!"
> 
> Intern: "Yes, sir?"
> 
> Coulson: "Start running a search through the SHIELD database about how to get civilians to comment."
> 
> Intern: "Sir, I don't think-"
> 
> Coulson: "I want your report on possible methods within the hour."
> 
> *door closes as Coulson leaves the room*
> 
> Intern: "This intern has a name, you know!"
> 
> Author: "No you don't. Stop being ridiculous: you're a SHIELD intern."


	21. The Goddess of Lies Confuzzles SHIELD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! During finals week! I should be studying! (Wait, that last one doesn't deserve an exclamation point.) Enjoy and let me know what you think!

The knock on the front door to the Lewis residence was sharp and insistent. Darcy’s father answered the door, curious as to who would be knocking so early in the morning; it was just past 6:30am.

“Good morning, sir. I’m Agent Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. Please step outside and my agents will give you further instructions.” Coulson flashed his badge.

“Now, Agent Coulson, what’s all this about? My children are just getting up for breakfast.”

“Sir, I’m not at liberty to spend any more time on this with you. Please vacate your residence or my agents will detain you.”

Loki, listening in with his magic, relayed all of this to Darcy. “Are you ready?” he asked.

“As I’ll ever be.”

Loki looked Darcy over where she was sitting on her bed. She was wearing dark purple PJs with green and silver accents. He had braided her hair with emerald green ribbons. The proper books were on her shelf. Her laptop was asleep on the desk. Her feet were covered in fuzzy green socks and her injured ankle was sitting nicely atop the bed. He was so foolish. Acting so rashly as to expose himself- it was something Thor would do and he loathed to be like Thor. 

Darcy spoke once more. “You’ll be here, right?”

“Yes, Darcy.”

“How will I know where you are? You’re going to be invisible.”

“I’ll be close by, but out of the way of the SHIELD agents. Trust me.”

“Ok, well I guess you better disappear.”

Loki vanished. Still invisible, he walked over to Darcy and gave her a quick hug.

~~~~~~~~~

The only Lewis left in the house now was Darcy. Coulson knocked on her bedroom door.

“I’ll get up in fifteen minutes.” The groggy voice of Darcy Lewis sounded through the door.

“Miss Lewis, my name is Agent Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. Please open your door.”

The door opened. Agent Coulson found himself face to face once again with what seemed like an ordinary girl. 

“Unless this is a late delivery of puppies, candy, or money, I want to go back to sleep.”

“Miss Lewis, are you aware that my agents have your family in custody?”

“No, I just woke up to a stranger in my house who is telling me he took my family while I’m in my PJs.”

Coulson played the clip of her voice talking about the constitution. “Do you recognize this, Miss Lewis?” 

“Why should I answer? You haven’t even read me my rights.” She switched from speaking to shouting. “MY NAME IS DARCY LEWIS AND AGENT COULSON IS QUESTIONING ME WITHOUT READING ME MY RIGHTS.”

“Are you finished?”

Darcy didn’t speak.

“We’re going to need to search your room and question you, possibly your family. We can and will detain you until the proper warrants are rushed through. Or, you can answer my questions now and let me search your room.”

“Am I the suspect of a criminal investigation?”

“Yes.”

“Fine, then you’ll be able to get a warrant. I want to be present when you search my room, a guarantee that nothing will be removed without my express permission, and a copy of the recording of my questioning for any possible legal repercussions.”

“Very well. Just a minute.”

A few minutes later, they were sitting at here kitchen table with two recording devices on the table- one for each of them. After stating her name and the agreement for the tapes, the questioning began.

Agent Coulson played the clip of her reading the constitution. “Do you recognize this?”

“Yes, that’s my voice on an illegal recording captured by a device I discovered in a souvenir pen given to me by a representative of SHIELD Academy.”

“How did you disable the other listening devices in your room simultaneously?”

“You guys put _more_ illegal listening devices in my room?”

“Answer the question, Miss Lewis.”

“Dude, I didn’t even know they were there.”

“Very well.” He continued to played the recording. Loki’s voice came on air.

“Can you identify this voice, Miss Lewis?”

“Yup, that’s me.”

“Excuse me?”

“That’s me talking. Is that what all this is about?”

“Darcy Lewis, are you aware that this voice made a direct threat against SHIELD.”

“It also claims to be a mythical Norse god, Agent Coulson.”

“Explain how you made your voice sound like this.”

“Well, see, I was scared when I found out I was being recorded for no reason and I got mad, as kids- yes, that’s right, recording, I am a minor- often do. So I said my bit about the constitution because I know pretty much everything about politics. It’s like my favorite subject in school. But I’ve also been reading mythology for my English class and I guess I was just so annoyed I wanted to show you guys how ridiculous it was to be recording me by pretending to be a Norse god using a voice modulator on my computer and saying all that silly stuff.”

“You made a direct threat against SHIELD.”

“I’m a minor and you were violating my rights.”

“Darcy, do you recognize this boy?” He held up the sketch that SHIELD had put together based on eyewitness accounts of Loki after the feeds had been wiped.

“Agent Coulson, that’s a drawing.”

“Does it remind you of anyone you know?”

“Um, nope.”

“What is the name of the boy you were with in DC.”

“I was with a lot of boys in DC; it was a class field trip. You can get a list of my class from my school, I’m sure.”

“Who was the boy with you when you were initially detained for SHIELD questioning?”

“Are you trying to trick me? I was by myself.”

“Fine, Miss Lewis. We will now proceed upstairs so you can demonstrate your voice modulator.” 

“Sure thing, AC.”

Over the next couple hours, Darcy watched as agents searched her room, had her demonstrate the voice modulation program she and Loki had made, discover the Poetic Edda book of Norse mythology on her shelves, and glance over the illusion of an empty floor under her bed. 

When they were finished, Darcy asked Coulson, “So what’re you going to tell my parents?”

~~~~~~~~~

“Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, thank you so much for your cooperation. I’m pleased to say that you have all passed the surprise background check for the full scholarship to SHIELD Prep. Since we are such a prestigious school, it’s important that candidates and evaluated for the safety of all who participate. Thanks for your time and cooperation. You’ll be getting admissions details via mail soon and here’s my card if you have any questions.”

As the SHIELD convoy pulled away, Darcy felt an invisible hand squeeze her should and a voice whisper, “You made it.” 

After a few questions from her parents about what had happened, Darcy was thankfully allowed to go to her room. Loki reappeared.

“And they say I’m the god of lies.”

“Haha, Lokes. Do you think they really believe it all.”

“I’d venture to guess that we’ve confused them all terribly.”

Darcy yawned. “Yay.”

“How’s your ankle?”

“Meh. I think Coulson noticed I was limping a bit since the other day, but he didn’t say anything.”

“You should get some rest.”

“Loki, it’s the middle of the day.”

“There’s this wonderful thing called napping.”

“Are you just saying all this because you’re tired from staying up most of the night planning all this?”

“If I say I am can we go back to sleep?”

“Fine, Mischief, we can go back to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'll confess that when I wrote the bit with Loki revealing himself, I had *no idea* how I was going to write the story around it. Because it's too soon for SHIELD to know about Asgard for other stuff I have in mind. Also, that's the main reason for the long delay for this chapter. I hope you liked the way it got resolved and I can't wait for what'll be coming up next for these two.
> 
> Comments make my day and also for every comment I get today I'll study a half hour for my final tomorrow. Yay for motivation! 
> 
>  
> 
> Loki: Are you seriously hoping no one comments so that you can give yourself an excuse not to study?  
> Me: No, well, not entirely.  
> Loki: Pathetic.  
> Me: Hey, this way it's a win-win for me. If they comment, then yay I get comments. If they don't then yay I get an excuse not to study.  
> Loki: Imagine what Darcy would say to you.  
> Me: She'd probably just poke me until I started studying.  
> Loki: Precisely, so what are you going to do now?  
> Me: Get lunch!  
> Loki: No, that's not at all what... *sigh* I give up. Be a foolish mortal if that is your true desire.


	22. Touché

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the well wishes on the final from yesterday! Here's another chapter:

Darcy was grumbling again. That was never a good sign. Since the SHIELD crisis had been averted, she’d been able to convince her parents that sending her away to school was not the best idea; the home invasion from SHIELD had startled them to say the least. But Loki had begun to learn that as Jotunheim was to Asgard, so was high school to Midgard. 

Loki coughed, causing Darcy to finally notice he’d entered the room. “What’s the matter today?” he asked.

“Why do they even call it homecoming? Back to school is when you leave home to go to the miserable realm of homework.”

Ah, so it was this again. “You said the festivity was optional.”

“Grace thinks that now that I’m in high school I need to be more social.”

“And what does the Darcy think?”

“I think a lot of people will notice if I don’t go.”

“Well, then, how bad could it be?”

“Loki, I’d have to get a date.”

“Well, pick someone, then I’ll sneak into their house, knock them out, and transfigure myself into them for the evening.”

“Loki!” She jokingly whacked him with her pillow. Then, “I wish.”

“It’s just a Midgardian dance, Darcy. You’ve managed plenty of interrealm, politically important dances on Asgard.”

“So you think it’s easy.”

“Of course.”

Darcy grinned. “Fine, I think it’s time for a little payback for that truth or dare thing.”

“Now, Darcy, payback is unbecoming of an advisor.”

“You said it would be easy.”

“What exactly do you wish to do to me.”

“Oh, I’m not going to do anything to you.” 

“Do go on, my dear.”

“You’re going to impersonate me at school tomorrow, get a date, get a dress- at the store, no magicking one in- and go to the dance for me.”

“Darcy, you can’t possibly-“

“What’s the matter? Isn’t it easy?”

“Yes, it shall be. Perhaps I shall make some Idiot Boy fall head over heals in love. It shall be fun to play you.”

“Hey! No ruining my reputation, Lokes. And what do you mean ‘Idiot Boy’? Are you saying only an idiot would fall in love with me?”

Loki thought it over. Well, they would be an idiot to annoy him so by falling in love with Darcy. “Of course not. Only that an idiot boy would be the only one who could fall in love with a guy pretending to be you in a single day.”

“Fair point.”

Loki grinned. This would be fun. Darcy had been shockingly vague with the guidelines for this challenge. She’d said he couldn’t ruin her reputation, for instance, but nothing about not being allowed to change and improve it. He was especially pleased the only restriction on magic was for getting the dress; he could use his magic discreetly for anything else he wanted. 

He asked, “And what will you be doing while I’m masquerading about as you?”

“Hmm… well I could go to Asgard or just chill in my room and relax.”

“I suspect your mother might notice you hanging about here all day. I can take you to Asgard this evening.”

“Yay, a whole day in Asgard without Loki!”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing.” Darcy said, but her voice was high pitched and she was grinning madly.

“What mischief are you planning now?”

“No mischief; I’m just going to take advantage of some girl time with Sif and Sigyn while you’re gone.”

“Very well. Now, what homework do ‘I’ have for tomorrow?”

“Oh, nothing too much.” She handed him her heavy stack of textbooks. “Just two chapters of physics homework, a calc project, a quick fill-in-the-blank for world history, a Latin translation, and you should probably start on ‘your’ English paper that’s due next Wednesday.”

He nodded, flipping open the physics book.

“Cool, I’ll be in the shower.”

~~~~~~~~~

Several hours later, after Darcy had finished getting ready for bed, Loki showed her the gadgets he’d been working on since he finished her homework. 

“These will let you check up on me while I complete your little challenge.” He handed her a device with a small screen and showed her the controls.

“Coolio. This is going to be the most entertaining thing to watch ever.”

“Watching a master at work always is.”

“You think you’re a master of romance?” Darcy guffawed loudly.

“Yes, well which of us has been in a relationship?”

“Touché. Still, high school is a whole different ball game. Besides, who’s the one who made you start courting Sigyn anyways?”

“Fine, fine. I see your point. We shall let tomorrow settle it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it. This one is obviously leading towards bigger and better chapters that I can't wait to write. ;) Comments are always welcome!


	23. Let the Games Begin

For once, Darcy was up before her alarm clock. Hey, she was pretty excited for today- and nervous. But anything Loki did couldn’t be too bad, she reasoned. She turned off the alarm clock a minute before it was set to go off and shook Loki awake. 

In a singsong voice she said, “Gooood morning, Loki! Time for school!”

“You’re never this excited when you have to go to school.” He grumbled as he turned over in bed.

Darcy started to put on her Asgardian clothes. “C’mon, Lokes, you don’t want to be late on your first day.”

Finally he got up. 

Darcy remarked, “Your hair is messy.”

“Shocking.”

“This is going to be so weird to see you as me. I mean, I’ve seen my double plenty, but this is going to be you.”

Loki nodded as he began to concentrate his mind. Yes, it certainly would be strange to transfigure himself into Darcy. He sat down on her floor and began the spell. 

Darcy watched as Loki cast the spell, noticing the slight changes. He slowly became shorter. His hair turned from its usual inky black to her chestnut brown curls. His face filled out more, her dimples replacing his pronounced cheekbones. The changes were all subtle, but together the change was astonishing. A few more seconds passed and he looked exactly like her, glasses and all. 

“Wow,” she said, “that’s pretty cool.” She circled herself- well, Loki, really- and took it in. No matter how many times she saw her double from the back, she never could get over how strange it was.

“So, how do I look?” he asked in Darcy’s voice.

“Just like me.”

“A truly magnificent complement.”

“Oh shush, Loki.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Remind me, Darcy, where is Loki today?” Sigyn let another arrow fly towards the targets across the field.

“He’s traveling to another realm on a public policy campaign.”

“And you did not accompany him on this one?” Sif asked.

“Nah, I was getting bored of them. Besides, when else would I get the opportunity to hang with you all without Loki around?”

“Indeed, the two of you seem inseparable.” Sif raised her eyebrows and winked.

“Oh come on not this again!” She made a face at them, sticking her tongue out indignantly.

Sigyn and Sif dissolved into giggles at Darcy’s grotesque expression.

“Fine, I’ll just leave you two hear to shoot arrows. I’m going to the study.” Darcy left. Though she had planned to spend more of her day with Sif and Sigyn, now that she had the ability to watch Loki be her, she couldn’t resist.

~~~~~~~~~

Loki looked at Darcy- himself- once more in the mirror, checking that her hair was in place. Now that Darcy had passed through the portal he took stock of himself. The corset-like garment encircling his midriff was uncomfortable, he was shorter than useful, and without the glasses his vision was abysmal. Gods, how did Darcy live without being able to see? He would have to look up spells for healing impaired vision when he got back to Asgard. The curls that occasionally fell in front of his face were a nice distraction. He set to work on looking his best to meet the challenges Darcy had set forth. With a few spells that he was used to performing on Darcy, he had braided her hair regally, changed his clothes to that which was currently considered most trendy on Midgard, and decorated his face, paying careful attention to his lipstick. 

Finally he took a step back and admired his work. This was how he saw Darcy- perfect, beautiful, regal. But this was not necessarily the Darcy he wanted a high school full of Idiot Boys to see. He pulled a few curls loose from the braid, smudged a bit of the make up, and switched to slightly less fashionable clothes. He looked in the mirror. Somehow Darcy managed to look gorgeous even after his alterations. And alas, there was little time left before he would be late. 

~~~~~~~~~

“Hi Darcy!” Darcy listened as Grace shouted on screen at Loki. Speaking of Loki, he had certainly picked an interesting outfit for her: a green sweater with hints of purple, a deep purple skirt, her usual green converses, and emerald earrings.

She heard her own voice respond, “Hello Grace! What’s up?” She had to admit, so far Loki was doing a good job sounding like he wasn’t from Asgard.

“Not much. Digging the new threads, by the way. So you find a date for tonight yet?” Darcy rolled her eyes, half watching the screen, half looking out the window at the city. Of course Grace would like Loki’s choice of attire.

On screen, Darcy smirked and told Grace, “I’m getting one today. Dress shopping after school?”

“You betch’a Lewis. Nice change of attitude.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m just doing it to prove a point.” Darcy laughed; she knew Loki had said that for her benefit.

“So who you gonna ask?” Grace did her best impression of Ron from A Very Potter Musical.

“I think you mean which guy’s offer will I accept.” Even when he was pretending to be her, Loki was still cocky.

“No way! Someone already asked you?”

“They will.” Darcy grimaced; she would never say something like that.

“You’re a riot, Darce.”

“Hey, just wait. I’ll get the guy today and then we’ll get the dress this afternoon.” Ok, well, she would say that.

“Ok, see you at lunch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it. The next chapter is where thing will really start to get interesting. I really hope you all were able to follow the dialogue easily enough. I'll admit I struggled a bit with figuring out how to make it clear whether Darcy or Loki-As-Darcy was speaking. 
> 
> Anyways, finals are over now so hopefully I'll have more time to devote to this fic. Comments are always more than welcome.


	24. An Arrogant Prince Trapped in a Teenage Girl's Body

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so the way I've decided to do this is to write this from Loki's perspective with Darcy's thoughts in italics as she watches on Asgard. So remember, italics=Darcy. Enjoy!

“Please pass the papers up to the front.”

Loki grinned. These high school mathematics were far inferior to those that he had studied with Darcy. How did Darcy not die of boredom in these classes? The pop quiz was supposed to have been “challenging” according to the professor. He had graded his neighbor’s paper and been shocked to see they had only gotten seven of the ten questions correct. He wrote thoughtful comments on where their methods were flawed so that they could correct their mistakes next time. 

“Well, well, well. It seems we have a few perfect scores: Arnold, Marnie, Darcy- excellent work.”

_Ugh, how could he do this? She always made sure to get at least one wrong to avoid getting her name on the perfect list._

The electronic sound of a bell sounded over the speaker and the classroom emptied quickly.

_Thank goodness that was finally over. The classes had been painful all morning. It’s not that Loki was really sticking out or anything. It was just that he was so Loki that he couldn’t quite pull off Darcy._

“Hey, Darcy!”

_Oh great._

“Uh, hi.” This was the boy whose paper he had graded, Franklin.

“What’s with all the writing on my quiz?”

_She knew he would notice. Gah! How could Loki do that? This wasn’t like education on Asgard: learning wasn’t the primary goal. Hadn’t he noticed that no one else was writing corrections?_

“I just pointed out what you did wrong.”

_Loki! No! He’s going to think you hate him!_

“You’re just supposed to grade it, math whiz.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

_Darcy facepalmed internally._

“Math whiz isn’t really a complement.”

Loki blanked. Whyever not? “Well, I assumed it must be, considering that you like me.”

_I’m dying. Of all the ways to die on another planet, I’m going to die of embarrassment._

He laughed. “I, like you?”

_Yup, officially in critical condition. Let the dying commence._

“Well you are asking me to tonight’s dance, aren’t you?”

_Could Loki be any more of an arrogant prince trapped inside a teenage girl’s body?_

“No, I’m finding out why you decided to become one of the supernerds today and write on my quiz.”

Someone bumped into Darcy in the crowded hallway as Loki cast a quick spell to give the Idiot Boy Franklin a quick vision of how stunning Darcy could look on the dance floor.

_Did he just do magic? That’s totally cheating!_

As the vision ended, Franklin looked startled. “Um, what was I saying?”

“You were just insulting me, I believe.”

“What? No! I was um… just joking; I really do want you to go to the dance with me tonight.”

_What did he show Franklin? Maybe he threatened him subconsciously._

Loki was disgusted. This Idiot Boy only wanted to dance with Darcy because of how she looked, when the brilliance demonstrated on the pop quiz feedback was right in front of him to be praised. “Thanks but no thanks, Franks.” She turned on her heel towards the lunchroom, pushing through the crowd like any other high schooler. 

~~~~~~~~~

“Darce, I heard about Franklin. I can’t believe you turned him down! He’s on the JV baseball team!”

_Finally someone who might be able to talk some sense into Loki._

“Shush, Grace. He’s an idiot.”

“No kidding.”

Loki/Darcy ate her sandwich.

“Fine, but the day’s half over. Are you going to get a date or not?”

“Chillax, I’ve got it covered.”

“’Chillax?’ What’s up with you, Darce?”

_Wow, Grace must know me really well if she can tell something’s up._

“Nothing at all.”

“Fine. Well I’m off to the music room. I’ll meet you after school.”

~~~~~~~~~

Loki walked down the hallway according to the route he’d memorized last night after looking at the map of Darcy’s school to get to his next class. He was excited for his class period in the gymnasium; it would probably be the thing most like training on Asgard. 

_Darcy felt slightly sick. How could she have forgotten this part of her day? It was one thing for Loki to be in her body, but another thing entirely for him to have to go to gym in her body._

Loki followed the other girls into a side room of the gymnasium, following their lead. They went to their gym lockers. Loki looked around for one with Darcy’s name on it. The other girls were opening theirs. Loki used a quick spell to magic the lock off and retrieved the uniform that everyone else was pulling from their lockers. To his surprise, the other girls began to strip off their clothing and stuff it into their lockers. All of them were doing it. Slightly uneasy, he pulled off Darcy’s sweater and skirt, changing quickly and trying his best to be as gentlemanly as possible despite the situation.

_Wow, he’s not even looking. Not that she wanted him to. Because why would she want that? But she didn’t want him to not look either. Well to be fair he could hardly look without seeming weird to everyone else. That was probably it._

A quick spell and the locker was closed again, with the normal clothes safely inside. 

~~~~~~~~~

A boy was loitering in the hallway outside the girls’ locker room.

“Hey, Lewis! Great shot. I didn’t know you played basketball and soccer.”

_Well, she didn’t play basketball. Loki was just a show off during the class’s basketball game today._

“Thanks…” Loki used his magic to search the boy’s mind for his name. “… James.”

“So you doing anything tonight?”

_Woah, James was asking her out because of her stupid basketball game?_

“Why do you ask?” Loki smirked coyly.

_Ugh, that has got to be the worst flirting face ever. Mostly because it was a flirting face and Darcy Lewis does not flirt._

“I was thinking we could go to the dance.”

“Were you?” 

_Oh come on, was Loki trying to torture him?_

“So, what do you say?”

“Pick me up at Grace’s at seven.” Loki gave this Idiot Boy Darcy’s phone number and texted him the address.

_She was going to the dance with James.  
Grace was going to flip- a basketball player had asked her out._

“Cool, thanks!” James walked down the hall, high-fiving one of his friends as he caught up to them.

Loki didn’t approve of this Idiot Boy, but at least he was better than the first one. Besides, he was running out of time to complete his challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a tricky one to write and the next one seems like it's going to be even trickier. I'm trying to figure out how these two would react in these situations; from my view, at this point, Darcy totally likes Loki, but she hasn't admitted it to herself fully. Loki is even more oblivious than Darcy is to his own feelings. Anyways, I hope the italics intermingled in the story didn't make it difficult to follow, but if it did let me know and I'll try to figure out something to fix that in upcoming chapters.
> 
> Once again, comments are the best things in the world, so if you lovely readers would like to leave some, here's some virtual cupcakes. 
> 
> And if you've read this far and still don't want to comment, well whatever, have a virtual cupcake anyways.


	25. Let the Shopping Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are for Darcy. 
> 
> Also, your beloved author forgot that this mini chapter existed and forgot to post it until now. So, yeah, just call me Idiot Author.

“So, you and James, eh?” Grace gave Loki/Darcy an exaggerated wink.

“Yup, he asked me after gym.”

“Well, you know what that means.” Grace wiggled her eyebrows.

Loki was genuinely confused. What was that supposed to mean? Darcy would probably know. Hmm, best to just ignore it. “Ready for dress shopping?”

“You seem more excited than usual for dress shopping.”

“Hey, if I’m going to this thing, I’m going in style.”

_Darcy was impressed; that was exactly what she would have said. Loki really did listen to her closely if the awesomeness of his impersonation skills were anything to judge by._

~~~~~~~~~

“Oh my gosh, you’ve got to try this one on.”

It was a flattering red dress with a slit up the side, studded with black false, plastic gemstones. The low neckline was trimmed with black velvet lace. Loki wrinkled his nose. “But that one’s red.” He looked around and pulled the closest he could find to his standard shade of green. He ended up with a lime colored dress that came to Darcy’s mid-thigh, embellished with silver sequins. 

“You used to wear red all the time at the beginning of middle school, Darce; it’ll bring out your lips. Just try it one with the green that you insist on wearing all the time- though at least that dress is a different shade.”

_Darcy chuckled. Loki was learning the hard way that his favorite green was not easy to find in the store. She had only ever found one top that exact color; Loki had magicked all her other outfits._

After a few minutes, Loki had found a lilac dress with a full skirt, a wine-colored gown, the lime green one, a plain navy dress that Grace had suggested, and the red dress Grace insisted was going to be ‘the winner.’ Well, he’d see about that.


	26. It's Not Green or Purple?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, italics are for Darcy. 
> 
> Also, just so you know, I write these chapters as Loki's part and then go back in to add Darcy's commentary. Personally, I like reading it through and ignoring Darcy's bits at first and then going back to see her commentary. So just wanted to mention that.

“Geez, Darce, what’s taking so long? I thought you were trying on the green one first.”

Loki regarded his predicament: he was in a small changing room with a full length mirror with several dresses hanging on the hook on the back of the door- oh, and he was in Darcy’s body. He reasoned to himself that this would be no different than gym. And he couldn’t take too long since was Grace was waiting just outside; apparently she already had her dress. 

_What was Loki’s problem? He knew this was going to happen; it was part of the challenge. Sure, neither of them had taken the time to really think it through, but come on- he was an intergalactic space prince; surely he could handle a little dress shopping._

He slipped off Darcy’s skirt and sweater and stepped into the green dress, pulling it up to Darcy’s chest. He reached behind him to try to secure the zipper, but could only pull it up halfway. If only he could use his magic. But he had promised Darcy no magic for the dress shopping. Perhaps Grace wouldn’t notice. He held the dress up by keeping his arms stiffly at his side and stepped out so that Grace could see.

“Oh, here, let me do the zipper.”

Well, she had noticed. Perhaps this was normal. His thoughts were interrupted by Grace’s giggles.

“Darce, you can’t try on a strapless with your bra on; it ruins the whole look. Slip it off and then show me.” She pushed Darcy/Loki back into the changing room. 

Well. This was going to be awkward. Hopefully Darcy would not be angry with him for looking; he really had no choice now. 

_Woah, he totally paused to check her out while he was getting changed. Like, just slightly. She couldn’t be imagining it, right? Well, Loki was a guy, after all._

After a few seconds, he went back outside to face the critic. 

“Darce, that has got to be the worst color.”

_Thank you, Grace! It really was an awful shade of green._

“It’s green! I like it. In fact, I think I don’t even need to try the others on.”

_Wow, talk about having a favorite color._

“You’re practically falling out of it! Just try on the red one for me please.”

“No.”

“Darcy.”

Loki affixed Darcy’s face with her signature stubborn look. That should quiet the pesky mortal.

_Bad idea, Lokes. Grace was Darcy’s best friend partially because she was one of the few people who didn’t blink at her stubbornness._

Unfortunately for Loki, Grace was far too used to Darcy’s stubbornness. She darted behind him and kidnapped Darcy’s clothes.

“Now go try on the red dress.”

“Grace!” 

_Loki really must hate trying on dresses. And he thought it would be easy._

“C’mon. I know you hate trying on dresses, so this can be the last one.”

“Fine.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Wow.”

_Wow, indeed. She looked on fire in that dress._

“It’s really red.”

_Way to state the obvious. She really needed to talk to Loki and convince him that Thor didn’t own the color red._

“Yeah, but Darcy it looks amazing. You have to get it.”

Loki considered his options. He could agree to this hideous red monstrosity or go through the awkwardness of changing in Darcy’s body again. The red dress it would be. Besides, he reasoned, perhaps Idiot Boy did not deserve to see Darcy in green and purple. Yes, that could work.

“Fine.”

_Oh my gosh it’s a miracle. And seriously, the one time I get to wear red and it’s not even really me wearing it. Loki gets to have all the fun._

“Ok, now let’s hurry back to my place so we have time for makeup.”

~~~~~~~~~

Loki was exhausted. Had it only been this morning that he started this quest? After a long day of boring tedium at Darcy’s high school and a painful trip to the store for a stupid dress for an Idiot Boy, he now had to endure actual torture. He was wearing some garments called “panty hose” that burnt his thighs as he walked, the red dress of awfulness, and a pair of treacherous black heels that bit into the back of his heel and pinched his toes. But that was not enough. Now, Grace had procured a gigantic bag of makeup and instructed Darcy to sit on the edge of her bed and close her eyes. He flinched each time a brush or pencil touched Darcy’s face. Not only was it painful, but it was ludicrous for Grace to think that Darcy need wear so much face paint to a high school dance with an Idiot Boy. She didn’t wear this much makeup at Asgardian balls with foreign diplomats, for goodness sake!

_Wow, she should have let Grace do her makeup sooner. She looked like a freaking evil goddess or something. To be fair, she didn’t like looking quite that awesome, usually._

Finally, Grace announced that she was finished and let Darcy/Loki look in the mirror. Darcy’s lips were deep red, lined with an even darker red; they looked larger than usual. Her eye shadow was a dark gray and the powder made her face look even more pale. She looked like an evil goddess. 

From where Grace was patiently curling her own hair, she remarked, “Pretty sweet, huh?” She paused while Darcy nodded. “Thank goodness your hair was already braided all fancy so we don’t have to mess with it.”

“Yeah, thanks for doing my makeup, Grace.”

“I can’t believe you let me. You always say you can do it better.”

_Well, perhaps she’d have to reconsider that fact._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're not getting tired of this whole challenge between Darcy and Loki. I know it's taking a while chapter-wise, but I want to do it justice. Anyways, comments are wonderful and they help with the winter break boredom. ;) Thanks for being awesome, readers!


	27. A Truly Magical Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darcy=italics

The doorbell rang. Grace rushed to the window, exclaiming, “It’s James and Austin!”

Loki watched, slightly bemused, as Grace dashed to the mirror for a final check on her appearance. Loki followed at a more relaxed pace to do the same. How was Grace running around in her heels without dying?

Grace beat Darcy/Loki downstairs and was waiting impatiently for Darcy so she could open the door. “Hurry up, Lewis!”

“I’m on my way, chill!”

As Darcy/Loki approached the doorway, Grace said, “Ok, are we ready?”

Loki nodded. Grace opened the door. 

Idiot Boy looked much nicer and was obviously polite enough to dress up nicely for the evening. 

“Wow, Darcy…” Idiot Boy’s eyes were roving over Loki/Darcy relentlessly. Loki didn’t like where his gaze lingered ever so slightly. “You look absolutely gorgeous.” 

_You bet she did. Poor Loki. It must be so weird to be on a date with James. And of course Loki goes for the arm; James must think she didn’t know how to walk in her heels or something. Though maybe Loki didn’t. She chuckled._

“Thanks.” Loki took Idiot Boy’s arm like he had seen Darcy do at countless dances on Asgard. Grace and her date, Austin, were already getting into Austin’s car. Idiot Boy led Darcy to his and was polite enough to open her door, not that Darcy needed her door opened, as he knew she would say if she were there, but she had said it was nice when boys were especially polite on first dates. 

_So far, she had to admit Loki had done pretty well. Sure, he didn’t do a perfect job, but the date he’d gotten her was actually pretty promising. I mean, James was obviously polite and he played sports, so he couldn’t be too bad._

The awkward silence that began as they drove to the school was, well, awkward. Loki had maintained conversation with all sorts of people (and giants and elves and dwarves) as part of his princely duties on Asgard. How could he be stumped by what to say to this Idiot Boy?

_Oh my gosh Loki talk._

Luckily, Idiot Boy broke the silence for him. “So, uh, you excited for the dance?”

“Yes.”

_Yes? Yes! You can’t just give a one word reply! Compliment him! Say he looks handsome or thank him for asking you to the dance!_

“Cool.”

“Mhm.”

“Austin and I were thinking that maybe once we’re all done dancing we could grab a bite to eat somewhere; he mentioned something about going to Denny’s for waffles.”

“Sounds good.”

“Okay then.”

_James thinks I hate him. He has to. Ugh, Loki, why? She’d seen him flirt with plenty of people before on Asgard. Why would he have trouble with a basketball player?_

Well, this was going well, Loki thought. The school would see Darcy and Idiot Boy together at the dance, thereby fulfilling the social obligation of the challenge and Idiot Boy would not want to date Darcy further because of the awkwardness, which Loki decided was part of his plan all along. 

~~~~~~~~~

They were standing by the snacks and slushies table. Loki was appalled at what these Midgardians considered to be dancing. The scene in front of him was nothing like the dignified balls on Asgard. Apparently, the Midgardians’ dancing consisted of jumping up and down and flailing your limbs at a fast tempo too close to other people. 

In a slight shout, Idiot Boy asked, “So, want to dance?”

_Say yes or just leave now._

Darcy would say yes, he knew. Darcy was not one for the sidelines. “Sure.” 

Darcy would also know how to dance, he thought. He certainly did not. He mimicked Grace, who was on the far side of the gymnasium, simply jumping up and down whilst holding her date’s hands. He could do that, surely. Before he could grab Idiot Boy’s hands, though, the song changed to one of a decidedly slower tempo.

The couples began to pair up similar to how they would on Asgard and Loki was pleased. This, he could handle. He put Darcy’s arms around Idiot Boy and the Idiot Boy took his waist. Loki waited for Idiot Boy to lead the dance, but to his surprise the pairs around them were merely swaying and spinning. 

“Hey, James, why don’t we actually dance.” It was time to show these Midgardians how it was done.

“Uh, I don’t really know any dances.” He looked apologetic. 

Loki cast a quick spell. Now Idiot Boy knew a dance. He had decided to go with a dance from Asgard closely resembling a style called “swing” on Midgard that Darcy had showed him. Loki was and excellent dancer and with his help, Idiot Boy was, too. Surely this would help Darcy become more popular with her peers, since that was the purpose of this evening. People were certainly staring as Loki/Darcy and Idiot Boy danced. They were greeted by applause when the song ended.

_He had just magicked her date. Of course. And he’d just shown off in front of the entire school. Why was he such a Loki? At least he was there to deal with the immediate aftermath. Darcy would be blushing and finding a way to leave if she were there right now._

“Wow, Darcy, that was incredible. So, dancing, basketball, and soccer- what else do you do?”

Loki shrugged.

_Oh my gosh how did Loki miss the suggestion in there? Maybe he had noticed it and was just ignoring it._

“Hey how about I get us some slushies from Mr. Loretto at the snack table?”

“That’d be great.”

As they sipped their sprite slushies, the two watched as other couples tried to dance similar to them, failing miserably of course. 

“Look at those two.” Idiot Boy James said, pointing to where a girl in a skimpy dress was attempting a box step with an obviously uncoordinated boy.

“What about the couple over there?” Loki nodded towards where a boy had tried to spin a girl and ended up getting their arms tangled together. 

Idiot Boy James laughed and slid his arm around Darcy/Loki. 

_See, this was nice. Making fun of other people dancing on her date, that’d actually be a fun date. And an arm around the shoulder wasn’t too bad; Grace would certainly approve._

Loki/Darcy bristled slightly. Idiot Boy had tried to make it seem casual, but Loki could tell he had been looking for the opportunity for a little while. They stayed like that for a few minutes, silently sipping their slushies, until Grace came over, dragging her date behind her by the arm.

“I’m ready to blow this joint. Waffles, Lewis?”

“Great!” Darcy/Loki said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically considering that Idiot Boy had his arm around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *decides to just leave this chapter here and see what people say*


	28. Waffling over Waffles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, another chapter!
> 
> So, once again, Darcy's thoughts are in italics and I'd personally recommend reading the chapter through ignoring Darcy's parts at first, then going back for them, since that's how I write the chapters. 
> 
> Either way, enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I actually wrote a mini chapter and completely forgot to post it until now, so it's now chapter 25 and if you want to go read it, I wanted to let you know it was there. 
> 
> Sincerely,  
> Idiot Author

To say Loki was uncomfortable was an understatement. He was still wearing all the painful garments he’d had to don earlier, but that was not the most unnerving aspect of his predicament. No; after all the awkwardness of the evening, Idiot Boy still had his arm draped around Darcy/Loki’s shoulder. And Loki was running out of ways to extricate himself from this position in a socially acceptable manner. Loki/Darcy had ‘gone to the restroom’, but Idiot Boy simply replaced his arm around Darcy/Loki upon his return. Grace would be no help; she and Austin were heatedly debating bacon in light of Grace’s veganism. Loki/Darcy took another forkful of waffle, being very careful not to let the fork touch where Idiot Boy had been eating, and dipped it in syrup. The waffle was no longer warm. Perhaps it was time to go.

_Oh my gosh, I’m getting bored of a date that I’m not even technically on._

“Grace, Austin?”

The two, who were in the middle of arguing, looked at Darcy/Loki.

“I’m pretty tired, so I think we’re going to head out.”

_Finally._

“Oh, okay. See you at soccer tomorrow!”

Darcy/Loki and Idiot Boy walked to Idiot Boy’s car. 

Idiot Boy put the key in the ignition, then turned to Darcy/Loki.

_Oh no, this was it._

“I, uh, just wanted to tell you now that I had a really good time tonight before we get to your place. You never know how awkward parents will make it.” Idiot Boy chuckled after the last few words.

_True that, James. Doorstep scenes were great in movies, but not in real life where brothers or parents lurked nearby._

“Thank you; I had a delightful evening with you as well.” There, a stiff and formal goodnight ought to clue Idiot Boy in to the fact that this date would be a one time thing.

_Loki sounds too Asgardian. Who says delightful?_

“I mean, we dance really well together.”

Yes, they did, but that was because Idiot Boy had been enchanted quite literally by Darcy/Loki. Besides, why were these revelations stopping Idiot Boy from driving? “Yes, yes we did.”

Idiot Boy leaned over as if to give Darcy/Loki a hug goodnight. Hmm, thought Loki, as much as he didn’t want Idiot Boy hugging Darcy, it was an acceptable way of parting on Midgard. He leaned into the hug…

_Wait, was Loki actually leaning into the kiss? He was going to kiss someone in her body? She’d thought he’d find a clever way around it. Wow…_

…which turned out not to be a hug at all, as Loki found out when Darcy/Loki’s lips were rudely mashed by Idiot Boy’s. He pulled back in shock and horror.

“Darcy, I’m sorry.” Idiot Boy looked frightened at the expression on Darcy’s face, as he should be. “I’m sorry if that was wrong.”

_Darcy couldn’t contain her laughter. The expression on her- well, Loki’s right now- face was priceless. Clearly Loki hadn’t realized it was going to be a kiss. Don’t apologize, James, she thought, Loki deserves it for leaning into it._

How dare this Idiot Boy kiss Darcy after only one date! Whatever the vulgar romantic customs of Midgard were today, surely they could not be this forward. He should drop the illusion now and terrify the Idiot Boy with his true figure. He should encase the Idiot Boy in ice, sew his lips shut! But, of course, he knew Darcy would never do such a thing and would never forgive him for doing such a thing to a foolish mortal. What would she say? Well perhaps he should just say something neutral for now. 

“I wasn’t expecting that.”

_She knew that tone of voice. She wouldn’t be surprised if Loki used his magic to smite James where he sat. She could only imagine the talk at school if he actually did such a thing: James was on a date with Darcy Lewis and mysteriously disappeared._

Idiot Boy looked relieved. “Oh, well if you want we can try again and this time you can be, uh, expecting it.”

_Nice save, James._

“I think that’s enough for tonight, actually.” Loki/Darcy giggled slightly, trying to soften the blow of the rejection; Loki knew Darcy would be considerate of the foolish mortal Idiot Boy’s feelings even when absolutely livid with the foolish mortal Idiot Boy.

_She didn’t know what Loki was trying to convey, but that giggle was scarier than smiting would have been and James looked sufficiently terrified, but obviously trying to keep a brave face on._

“Oh, uh, ok.” Idiot Boy looked sheepish. “Well, I’ll just drive you home.”

“That would be much appreciated.”

_Yeah, Lokes, I’m sure._

~~~~~~~~~

Loki/Darcy fell backwards onto Darcy’s bed. This was perhaps the most exhausting day he’d ever had. Gratefully, he dropped the illusion and magicked the clothes he’d purchased today onto hangers in Darcy’s closet. He looked in the mirror- as fun as it was being Darcy, he was quite happy to be himself again. Now then, time to go through the portal to get Darcy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there you have it: Loki's day in the life of Darcy is finally finished! And now comes the aftermath... *evil cackle*
> 
> Winter break is extremely boring and reading comments is not boring, so comment before I die of boredom (if you want). :P


	29. The Aftermath

“So, not quite so easy, eh Lokes?”

“Definitely not, Darcy. But how did I do?”

“Not bad, not bad- except for the fact that you cheated.”

“I did not!”

“You used magic!”

“Your challenge was, and I quote, ‘You’re going to impersonate me at school tomorrow, get a date, get a dress- at the store, no magicking one in- and go to the dance for me.’ And I did not use magic to get the dress.” Loki grinned proudly.

“You know what I meant.”

“You’ve got to be more careful when wording a challenge, my dear.”

“But what about the kissing? That wasn’t part of the challenge and you did that.” Darcy watched with satisfaction as Loki’s cheeks turned bright red.

“That was… unintended. And I think you know that seeing as how you’re barely containing your laughter.”

“Loki and James sitting in a car…”

“Darcy, you have told me this Midgardian song before. Is it not a tree?”

“That’s not the only version.” She sang the rest, “Loki and James sitting in a car… Are they kissing? Yes they are!”

“Well then.”

“Aw, poor Loki is embarrassed to talk about his da-ate.”

“Darcy, clearly you saw the whole thing, so I have no reason to discuss it further. What did you do on Asgard?”

“Eh, mostly watched you pretend to be me. It was hilarious. But I did go shoot some arrows with Sif and Sigyn.”

“How nice.”

“Mhm.” Darcy yawned.

“Ah, I see it is time for us to take you back to Midgard.”

“It was just a yawn; let’s keep talking.”

“Very well, we may talk on the ride back.”

“Loki, that’s not what I meant.”

“Yes, yes. You meant to delay resting even though you are tired.”

“Yups.”

Loki laughed as they mounted Hel.

~~~~~~~~~

The alarm clock went off sooner than Darcy would have liked.

“Loki, wake up.”

“Why? I’m not going to school today.”

“Well neither am I.” She turned off her alarm and plopped rather ungracefully back into her bed.

“Whyever not?”

“I’m not going to deal with suddenly being a basketball player, amazing dancer, genius girl, and car-kisser. My double can deal with it.”

“Fine.” He cast a double even though he was only half awake.

“Loki, my double is in PJs.”

Loki grumbled something incoherent.

Darcy got out of bed, something which annoyed her greatly, and went downstairs to get a cup of ice. She returned upstairs to find Loki sound asleep in her bed. She grinned. This would be payback for using magic. She lifted the collar of his shirt and dumped the ice cubes down it, then watched as Loki awoke quite suddenly with a confused look on his face.

“Darcy? What have you done?” He looked annoyed, but was not squirming as she would have. 

“Oh come on can’t Asgardians feel cold?”

Instead of responding, Loki stood up and let the ice fall through his shirt onto the floor. He cleaned it up magically with a wave of his hand. 

Darcy grinned at him. “My double is wearing PJs.”

“Very well.” He changed the double into Darcy’s usual jeans and a bright red t-shirt he made that read ‘I Kissed Idiot Boy’ and had a picture of Idiot Boy’s face.

“Hey, James isn’t an idiot! And my double is NOT wearing that to school.” Darcy glared at Loki playfully.

“Impossible child.” He muttered as he replaced the shirt with a green top of Darcy’s.

“Much better.” She sat on the edge of her bed. “So shall we continue napping here invisibly or just go to Asgard?”

“Soundproof and invisible. Asgard’s too far.” He plopped, regally of course, back into her bed. 

Laughing, she did the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there you have it. This bit of the story is finished; I hope this neat little wrap up chapter was enjoyable. We'll probably be jumping ahead a little bit towards Christmastime for the next couple chapters. I've got some fun ideas that I wanted to write into this for you all for the holidays. :) Comments are the best and you know where to leave them. ;)


	30. Darcy Goes to Asgard

“Mom, I’m going out to the mall and then staying over at a friends!”

“Ok, Darcy, I’ll see after school tomorrow and soccer tomorrow.”

Darcy walked downstairs with her backpack, then walked around to the side of the house and climbed back in her window. She set her bag in her closet and ducked under her bed.

Even though she would have to walk into the city since Hel wasn’t there, Darcy didn’t mind. Quite frankly, she could use the time to think over what to do.

In a short while, she had made it to Loki’s quarters, let herself in, and found it was empty. Hmm. She texted Loki: _Hey, where are you?_

_On Asgard. Why?_

_Where on Asgard?_

_The throne room._

_Why are you in the throne room?_

_We’re entertaining people from the city. Listening to their concerns. I had to step in because Thor was messing things up._

_Are you texting while listening to someone’s problems???_

_Maybe…_

_When does it end?_

_It goes until the evening meal._

_Blech._

_Is everything alright?_

Darcy didn’t answer. The evening meal was still a ways away. She decided she might as well just go hang out in the throne room with Loki; she put on her Asgardian clothes and walked to the throne room. To say Loki looked surprised to see her when she walked in was an understatement.

He interrupted the merchant speaking about the market issues, saying, “Excuse me, I need to speak with my advisor for a moment.”

Loki dragged her off to the side of the room. “Darcy what is wrong? Why are you here?”

“Nothing’s wrong, not really. I was just annoyed at my parents and wanted to get away.”

“Let me end this session of court and we can discuss this.”

“Loki, no you can’t just ditch your people!”

“Darcy, you came all the way to Asgard. Something must be the matter.”

“It’s nothing. It’s silly.” She looked over at the line of people waiting to be heard. “I’ll meet you at dinnertime in the library.”

“Very well, since you insist.” He apologized to the merchant he’d interrupted and cast a worried gaze at Darcy as he watched her leave the room.

~~~~~~~~~

Loki met her in the library slightly before the evening meal. Darcy had no doubt he had rushed through the line of people.

“Darcy, will you tell me now what is the matter?”

“Well, I’ve had some time to think about it and I realized it was silly.” She wasn’t sure why she cared, to be quite honest.

“It’s clearly not ‘silly’ if it has upset you so.” Loki looked visibly worried.

Darcy sat down on one of the reading windowsills. “It’s just- my parents told me this afternoon that we’re going away for vacation the week of Christmas.”

“And you do not wish to go?”

“Well, kind of. I think it’d be neat to see New Mexico, I guess. It just… nevermind.”

“Darcy.” He joined her on the windowsill.

“It means I won’t get to come see you on Christmas.”

Loki thought over this statement for a few minutes. Yes, Darcy might not be able to come see him on Asgard for the holidays, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t see him. But if she hadn’t thought of the idea- well, it would be her Christmas surprise. “I’m very sorry, Darcy. But at least it is only for one week. What will you be doing in New Mexico?”

“We’re going to be staying at a campground near the white sands desert. Don’t ask me why my parents chose there.”

“I see.”

“Loki, what are you thinking?”

“Nothing.”

“It’s a surprise, isn’t it? You know I hate surprises.”

“You’re correct on both counts, I’m afraid. I just had an idea of what to get you for Christmas.” Speaking of what to get Darcy for Christmas, he really needed to start thinking of what to get her for Christmas.

“Ugh, can’t you just tell me?”

“Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

“But if I don’t know what it is then how will I be able to gleefully anticipate it?”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to figure something out.”

“Is it larger than a loaf of bread?”

“Darcy!” Loki laughed. Darcy was ruthless when it came to uncovering surprises.

“Fine, fine. Spoil all the fun. Hey, maybe you can come visit some before I leave and we can watch Christmas movies.”

“Whatever you say my dear.”

Cheered up quite a bit, Darcy said, “Ok, let’s get some dinner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may be uploading another today, it'll depend on how busy the rest of my day is. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and remember, comments make great presents. ;)


	31. Finding Aliens in the Desert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? You bet!
> 
> Enjoy! :D

“Darcy, could you run into the office and find out where our rooms are?”

Darcy pretended not to hear, even though the music in her headphones wasn’t that loud. Their car was parked in the small lane outside the motel/campground’s main office. When she didn’t answer, her mother turned around and waved a hand in front of her face. Darcy took out her headphones and pretended like she had no idea what was going on.

“Darcy, will you go into the office and get our room keys?”

Darcy rolled her eyes.

“Darcy Elizabeth Lewis, I don’t know why you don’t want to be here, but you need to lose the attitude so you don’t ruin this for your brother and us.”

Yeah, it had been a long trip. “Fine.” With as much teenage attitude as she could muster, she undid her seatbelt, got out of the car, slammed the door behind her, and walked to the small office.

An old man behind the counter was helping some kid with a large backpack. Pushing her sunglasses up onto her head, she walked up to the counter.

“I’ll be with you in just a second, young lady.” He turned back to the boy, “Ok, you’re in row J number 4. Be sure to stop by here if you need anything; you look a little young to be camping out here all on your own.”

Darcy, who was quite occupied with trying to look as annoyed as possible, glaring resolutely at her parents in the car outside, noticed out of the corner of her eye that the boy at the counter was staring at her instead of paying attention to the guy behind the counter.

Finally, the boy responded with a “Thanks, sir.” But it was not his words that caught Darcy’s attention- that voice. She stopped her glaring to look over at the boy properly.

“Loki?” He looked and sounded just like Loki, except he was dressed in normal clothes and his hair was a lot shorter than usual. 

“Hi, my name’s Thomas and I’m an ordinary human camper.” He winked. 

She walked over to him. “Loki, what are you doing here?”

“Well, you said you wanted to see me for Christmas.”

“How did you even get here?”

“I’ve been reading about New Mexico for days. I simply went through the portal to your room after you left and then teleported out here.”

“And you’re staying in a tent?”

“Yes, Thor and I have camped many times on Asgard; it is quite enjoyable.”

“So, you’re really going to be here all week?”

“Yes.”

The man behind the counter cleared his throat, “Did you need help with something, young lady?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m with the Lewis’s. We just got here and wanted to get our rooms.”

“Ah, yes.” He rummaged in a folder for a few minutes and pulled out a small set of keys with colorful tags. “There we are- row H, rooms seven and eight. Now if you can just sign here.”

Darcy signed her mother’s name and grabbed the keys, then turned back to Loki. “I’ve got to go get unpacked, but I’ll come by as soon as I can escape my parents.”

“Excellent, I shall just be getting my tent set up.”

Darcy went back to the car in a much better mood than she had been in when she left it.

~~~~~~~~~

“We’re going to go exploring around this place, ok, mom?”

“As long as you and your brother have unpacked, that’s fine. Be back at six so we can drive into town for dinner. Stick together.

Darcy said to Darius, “Ok, follow me.”

She led them through the rows haphazardly, wanting it to seem like she wasn’t planning on going to row J number 4. 

When they arrived, finally, Loki, who was sitting on a beach chair reading a book, said, “Hi, Darcy.”

Darius looked at his sister, “You know him?”

“I met him in the office.”

Loki stood up and offered a hand to Darius, “Hi, my name’s Thomas.”

Darius shook it. “So what are you doing in New Mexico?”

“I’m just here for fun. My parents let me go on a trip around the southwest for winter break. I started at the Grand Canyon- we don’t live far from there- and I’ve been making my way around for the past couple weeks.”

“Nice! How long are you going to be here?” Darcy could tell by his words that Darius was impressed at the fact that some boy younger than him was camping across the southwest without parental supervision.

“I’m planning on staying a week or so.”

“Great, we’ll be here a week, too!”

Darcy bit her lip, trying not to laugh. Loki was of course an excellent liar, but Darius was eating it all up. She had to admit, Loki had picked out what type of person Darius was pretty well; he clearly had won her brother’s respect. 

“So,” Loki said, “what are you two planning on doing for the rest of the evening.”

Darcy grimaced. “We’re going to dinner in town with our parents.”

Darius interjected, “Hey, you should totally come if you’re not doing anything.”

“Darius! What about mom and dad?”

“Oh, come on, Darce. They’ll be glad we found someone our age to hang out with. I’ll handle it.”

Loki smiled, “That sounds like fun. When and where should I meet you.”

“How’s 6 o’clock, row H, room 7?” She asked, as if Loki didn’t already know where she was staying.

“That sounds excellent. I shall see you then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *grins innocently* Dinner with Loki and Darcy's family: what could possibly go wrong? :D
> 
> Leave a comment! Leave two comments, why not! :P


	32. Dinner in Puente Antiguo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is this madness? Three chapters in one day? It's a Christmas miracle!

“Oh, there you two are!”

“It’s only 5:30, mom.” Darcy couldn’t believe Loki had said yes.

“Hey, mom,” Darius had that mischievous look on his face that only a sibling can know means something terrible was about to occur. “Darcy and I found some guy our age to hang out with and invited him to dinner.”

“Oh, um, well this was supposed to be a family dinner.”

“Well we already invited him.”

Darcy added, “Yeah, it’d be rude to cancel.”

“Okay, well I’m sure he’s very nice. I look forward to meeting him.”

Darius responded, “Yeah, the dude’s pretty cool. And he’s totally crushing on Darcy.”

Darcy elbowed her brother while her mother sighed exasperatedly.

“Go get ready for dinner. I’ll see both of you at six.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Why did you say he has a crush on me, Darius?”

Darius answered back through the bathroom door where he was changing, “Cause it’s so obvious. Hey how nice do you think we have to dress?”

“I’m just wearing a sweater. I think mom just wants us out of the clothes we’ve been travelling in all day; besides it gets pretty cold in the desert at night.”

~~~~~~~~~

Loki showed up precisely on time. He saw Darcy’s parents on the porch, but apparently Darcy and her brother were still inside.

“Hello, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Lewis.” He walked up to them and shook their hands. “I’m Thomas.”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you. You’re very polite for your age. Darcy and Darius will be out any second.”

Just then, the door to Darcy’s room opened and she stepped out, her hair loose for once since Loki hadn’t braided it for her. She was wearing chap stick due to the dry desert air. Plus, she liked how it made her lips look.

“Oh, Lo- I mean, hi Thomas.”

“Hello Darcy.”

“Darius is just waiting on his phone to charge.”

Darcy’s mother opened the door to Darcy’s room and said, “Darius, you don’t need your phone for dinner. Leave it alone.”

The walked into the small town called Puente Antiguo on account of ‘how nice the weather was’ and how they all ‘could use a little exercise.’ Emma Lewis picked a bright corner diner, Isabel’s Diner, according to its windows. As they sat down and were handed menus, Darcy’s mother remarked, “Isn’t this nice?”

The rest nodded in agreement.

Darcy’s father spoke up finally, “So, Thomas, what brings you to this small town? Are your parents here?”

“I’m just here camping. I’ve been backpacking through a lot of the southwest, just seeing the cool landmarks. My parents are back home in Arizona, near the grand canyon.”

Darcy’s mother fired off the next question, “You mean you won’t be spending Christmas with your family, Thomas?”

“No, ma’am. But there’s a good reason. My parents are travelling to visit my older brother at school. I would have gone, except I just saw him a couple weeks ago.”

“Oh, that’s nice and if you’re going to be on your own for Christmas, I simply insist you join our family for the holiday. Also, I noticed your accent. Are you from Britain?”

“Oh, yes, we moved here when I was quite young. I’ve only been back to visit once, unfortunately. And thank you, spending Christmas with you all would be lovely.”

Apparently it was a roundrobin for questions, because Darius spoke up next, “So, Tom, you have a girlfriend back in Arizona?”

Emma looked ready to question the politeness of her son’s question, but Loki answered before she could, “No, no I do not.”

Darius said, “Well who knows, maybe you’ll meet someone nice while you’re travelling.” Then he gave an exaggerated wink and nudged Darcy so that she was sitting closer to ‘Thomas’

“Perhaps.”

Darcy swore that if anyone asked another question-

Her thoughts were interrupted by, “So, what can I get for you all?”

It was going to be a long dinner.

~~~~~~~~~

“Well, you’ve certainly charmed my parents, _Thomas_.” After dinner, her parents had let her go hang out with ‘Thomas’, so they were walking back to Loki’s tent.

“I could hardly want to make a bad impression on your parents the first time I meet them.”

“But they don’t know you’re you.”

“Yes, but I do. And you do.”

“Darius thinks you have a crush on me.”

“So I gathered from his many interesting questions over dinner.”

“Brothers, am I right?”

Loki chuckled and they walked the rest of the way back to his tent in silence.

“I can’t believe you’re sleeping in such a small tent. It hardly seems princely.”

“You forget, I am also a warrior of Asgard.” He opened the tent flap and gestured for her to enter. “You also forget I am a magician.”

Darcy grinned and turned to Loki. Their eyes met and they both grinned as they said in unison, “It’s bigger on the inside.” Forcing Loki to watch all that Netflix had been well worth it.

Inside the tent was a full bed, dresser, mini kitchen, full bathroom, and a tv with sofa cushions.

“Wow, Lokes, you’re really roughing it out here.”

Loki laughed as he plopped down onto the cushions. 

“Seriously though, Loki, thanks for coming out here to see me.” She hugged him.

“Your wish is my command, my dear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so just to explain where they are: 
> 
> Puente Antiguo from the movie is in New Mexico and the White Sands Desert (which is a cool place I really want to go see one day) is also in New Mexico. Since we don't know where in New Mexico, Puente Antiguo is, I have used the mighty powers vested in me as an author and decided to put it near the White Sands Desert. Also, just want to say that, yes, the diner is in fact the same one from the Thor movie. 
> 
>  
> 
> *Darcy begins singing*  
> I don't want a lot for Christmas-  
> I've already got Loki  
> I don't care about my parents  
> dragging me to New Mexico
> 
> I just want to read your comments  
> more than you could ever know  
> and if comment, you do,  
> maybe Loki will join in singing, tooooooooooooo
> 
> Ooooh ooh oooh, maybe!


	33. Merry Christmas

Darcy was being shaken awake. As she rubbed her eyes, she noticed the one shaking her awake was none other than Loki.

“What are you doing here?”

“Shhh…”

She whispered this time. “What are you doing here?”

“Merry Christmas, Darcy.” He nodded towards the clock, which indicated it was only a few minutes past midnight. 

“Merry Christmas, Lokes, but it’s the middle of the night. And Darius is right there.” She motioned toward the other bed where Darius was sleeping.

“Well I have a surprise for you.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll need to get dressed first. It’s outside.”

“Fine, just a sec.” Darcy tiptoed over to her duffle bag and pulled out a sweater, jeans and underwear. She eased the closet door open, cringing hen it squeaked slightly, then closed it to change. A few minutes later, she was ready, having zippered her boots as slowly as possible for minimal noise. 

“Ready?” He held out his hand and Darcy took it. Loki teleported them just outside to avoid opening the door. 

“Ok, so where’s my surprise.”

Loki smiled and said, “Right this way.” He picked up a round sled that he had brought from his tent and they started walked towards the sand dune. 

Now, technically, the national park was closed for the night, but he was Loki and this was Darcy’s Christmas surprise. He had found this particular activity when reading about New Mexico and knew Darcy would enjoy it. He teleported them once more into the park beyond the view of security cameras, at the top of a large dune. Holding the sled steady, he motioned for her to get on. 

Though it was the middle of the night, the full moon cast a luminous glow that reflected off the white gypsum sand and illuminated Darcy’s and Loki’s faces in a rather ghost-like manner. Darcy climbed onto the sled and Loki jumped on behind her. The momentum from that (as well as some from the teensiest bit of magic that Loki may or may not have used) sent them flying down the dune, careening off miniature slopes along the way down. Darcy was holding the rope, though not steering, since she wasn’t quite sure where she would steer and Loki had his arms wrapped around her waist. After several minutes of coasting, the slowed down to a stop. 

“Ready for an even taller dune?”

“You bet.” 

Loki smiled and teleported them to the top of the next one; there was no sense wasting time by walking all that way. 

“Wow, this is a really tall dune.” 

Loki grinned. He had snuck out here before waking Darcy and made this dune taller using some magic. 

They mounted the sled again and sped down the slope. This time, though, Loki only had one arm around Darcy’s waist. He was using the other to enchant the sand up ahead, causing it to form a loop-de-loop for them.

“Loki, are you crazy? We don’t have enough speed for a loop!”

“Not yet.” He cast a spell and their speed increased tenfold. The wind pulled Darcy’s hair behind her, whipping Loki’s face with it’s tendrils. As they entered the loop, Darcy screamed a bit as he’d noticed Midgardians often did on roller coasters. 

After they finished the loop, she laughed, “Loki, that was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done.”

“More terrifying than some of fighting you have partaken in Asgard?”

“Well, I guess thrilling is the best word.”

“Well, we shall have to top that.”

“Wait, what?” 

But Loki was already magicking the sand ahead into a rather impressive ramp.

“Lokiiiiiiiiii” 

As they reached the apex of the launch, Loki started enchanting their landing to be soft, remarking, “Isn’t this thrilling, Darcy?”

Their landing made a small crater and he and Darcy were tossed from the sled, absolutely covered in sand. Loki stood up and brushed some of the sand off him and reached down to offer Darcy a hand up. Instead, she pulled him down face-first into the sand, giggling like mad. When he turned over, he found Darcy making a snow angel, well a sand angel in this case.

When Darcy stood to admire her work, Loki enchanted the bit of sand she’d formed into a angel to ‘fly’ for a bit before dissolving into a sparkly shower of sand.

“That was really pretty Loki, but I think I have sand in my mouth and pretty much everywhere.”

“Very well, care for some water?” He magicked the sand to form a table, then took some more and melted it into a fancy goblet, which he filled with water magically.

“You’re showing off, Lokes.” Darcy sipped the water gratefully.

“Well, this is part of your Christmas present.”

“Part? What’s the rest?”

“Hmm… I wonder if I should tell you.”

“Loki, it’s Christmas now! Though since I didn’t know you were coming, yours is still in my room.”

“Oh, uh, yes. I saw a wrapped package with my name on it and took the liberty of bringing it along.”

“You better not have peeked!”

“You would insult my honor so?”

“Loki, it’s you.”

“Fair enough, but I did not peek.”

“Ok, well you can open it now.” Darcy was nervous. Shopping for intergalactic space princes who could do magic was tough. 

“The Poetic Edda” he read. 

“Yup, you might recognize some of the names.”

Loki read the back of the book and gave her a strange look. “Midgardians truly are peculiar.”

Darcy couldn’t wait until he got to some of the stories about him. “So what’d you get me?” She jumped up and down excitedly.

“Well, after our many discussion regarding the usefulness of invisibility cloaks…” He pulled Darcy’s gift- a dark blue fleece with silver Asgardian constellations- out of his interdimensional pocket. He had inchanted it to behave like the invisibility cloak in the Harry Potter books that Darcy so adored when Darcy uttered a particular word.

Darcy happily wrapped it around her. “Loki, I’m not invisible.”

“You have to activate it. I figured it wouldn’t do to have some ordinary Midgardian find it.”

“Well, what’s the magic word?”

Loki stepped under the cloak and said, “Poof.”

They both vanished and all that was left was the desert, returned to its previous undisturbed place, a pair of footprints from two invisible people the only trace of Darcy and Loki’s adventure. And besides, the wind would blow those away by morning.


	34. The Lies We Tell Ourselves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the break; I'm sure you all know how this time of year can get. I hope you enjoy!

Darcy watched out the window as Puente Antiguo grew smaller and smaller with the distance. As much as she’d originally been dreading the trip it had turned out to be way cool. I mean, she’d gotten to spend her Christmas with Loki and hadn’t had to leave her family with a double for the holidays. Really, she thought, could there be a better friend than Loki? 

Clearly not. She pulled the fleece he’d given her tighter around herself in the back seat. If she was lucky, she could catch a couple hours of half-sleeping on the long car ride.

~~~~~~~~~

Loki hastily packed his tent with magic and teleported to Darcy’s room. He’d very much enjoyed spending the week with Darcy, but even with popping back to Asgard for quick check-ups on the realm he couldn’t stay away any longer without drawing suspicion from the many gossip mongers that thrived in the palace. Plus, his mother would surely be wondering where he was.

Before crawling under her bed to enter the portal- by the way, he needed to talk to Darcy about magicking her a bigger bed, squeezing under her small twin size bed would not work much longer- he paused to look around the room. It was just as Darcy had left it before she left; the drawers and closest were quite messy. He debated casting a quick spell to organize her things properly, but stopped when he recalled the last time he’d done this. Darcy claimed that no matter how messy her room was, she knew where everything was, because she had made the mess. With a smile to himself over Darcy’s antics and how lovely it had been to spend the week mostly away from Asgard with her, he returned to Asgard.

Almost as soon as he reached the palace, he was greeted by Thor: “Brother! It is good to see you! You have not been easily found these last days.”

“I was attending to business.”

“Aye? What business could thou have to fulfill during the time of the winter feasts?”

“I’m afraid you would find it terribly uninteresting.”

“Come now, brother, surely we can discuss the politics of our realm together.”

“What is this sudden interest in politics, Thor?”

He looked behooved. “Mother wished that I would make an effort to learn from you as you do in practicing the ways of warriors more often now.”

Inwardly, Loki grimaced. He knew his mother was right and that Thor, as the eldest prince, definitely needed to be better informed on such matters, but he wished that his mother would not ask Thor to come to him; it would get tiresome rather quickly. Outwardly, he said, “Very well. I was cataloging past inter-realm interactions involving Asgard within recent years.”

“I see.”

Clearly, Thor had no idea what Loki was talking about, which was fine since Loki hadn’t actually been doing that and had no interest of discussing it further. “Well, if that is all, good day, brother.”

~~~~~~~~~

The radio, which had been playing music softly with a hint of static from the front seat stopped abruptly. Darcy roused herself from her state of half-sleeping to see why. The car had stopped at a gas station, one of those large ones meant for trucks on the side of highways in the middle of nowhere. 

“Mom, can I go look in the store while Dad fills up the tank?”

“Sure, just be back by the time your father finishes; we want to drive as far as we can today before we stop for the night.”

Darcy climbed out of the car, making it to the doors before realizing she was still holding the cloak Loki had given her a couple nights ago. Oh well. She wrapped it around her shoulders so it resembled an elaborate cape and browsed through the souveniers- magnets, shot glasses, postcards, bumper stickers, and other knick-knacks. She finally settled on a package of twizzlers and went back to the car. 

Several minutes later, lulled back to a drowsy state by the road noise and nibbling happily on a twizzler (luckily Darius was sleeping so her parents didn’t make her share them), Darcy let her mind drift.

_“And he’s totally crushing on Darcy.”  
Why did Darius say that? He’s got to just be thick and think that every boy who’s nice to me must liiike me or something. Darius was her older brother, though; wasn’t he supposed to not want boys to liiike her? Still, in the movies whenever a girl isn’t sure if a boy liiikes her, she consults her best friend. But she couldn’t very well ask Loki if he liiiked her. That defeated the whole purpose of the thing. Besides, he didn’t liiike her, so that would just make things awkward which of course was no good since Loki was her best friend. And she couldn’t tell Grace, because no one knew she had a secret best friend who was also an alien space prince and who by the way might liiike her according to Darius. What would Grace even say, once they got past the whole alien space prince part? I mean, even just this last week, Loki had:_

_1\. Surprised her completely by traveling across the universe to see her for Christmas._  
2\. Gone out of his way to blend in and impress her brother and parents.  
3\. Said ‘Your wish is my command, my dear.’ Seriously, ‘my dear’.  
4\. Surpised her completely again by coming to her room in the middle of the night to take her magic sledding at midnight.  
5\. Totally showed off his magic for her.  
6\. Given her the most awesome gift ever that he’d magicked himself… wait, did Loki sew the cloak, too??? She’d have to ask next time she saw him. Anyways, staying on topic.  
7\. Magicked the sand off her when they got back so her parents wouldn’t know and because sand is annoying.  
8\. Brought over delicious cookies on Christmas morning for Darcy and her family before saying goodbye to all of them.  
9\. Helped load Darcy’s ridiculously heavy and bulky duffle into the car. 

_See, that list would probably make Grace jump to conclusions. Conclusions that couldn’t be true. The usual signs of someone liiiking someone just don’t work when one of the someones is an alien space prince. All that stuff could totally be explained:_

_1\. He travelled across the universe because he lived across the universe. Seriously, he did that all the time to come see her and when he needed to go on political trips to other realms._  
2\. What could she say? Loki likes lying and he was literally faking an identity, so of course he was being super nice.  
3\. Loki is from Asgard. Asgardians talk funny. It’s just a fact. I mean, she’s called Lady Darcy on Asgard. Seriously: Lady Darcy.  
4\. Loki likes mischief and surprises are mischievous.  
5\. When isn’t Loki showing off his magic???  
6\. Loki was a magician. It probably wasn’t that big of a deal. Probably people give each other super fancy invisibility fleeces all the time on Asgard.  
7\. Well, that was just considerate.  
8\. Loki had magicked those cookies and he was still keeping up his super nice Thomas act for her parents.  
9\. Loki’s polite. 

_There. No one could argue with that logic. Sure, ordinary mortals might think Loki liiiked her, but knowing all that she did about his alien space prince-ness and his general Loki-ness she could quite clearly see he didn’t liiike her. It was probably for the better, right? Having Loki as her best friend was priority numero uno._

And with these thoughts echoing in her sleepy state of semi-conscious, Darcy eventually fell asleep under Loki’s fleece.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *grumbles* How come Darcy gets to sleep?
> 
> Loki: Come now, author, you're the one who chose to stay up this late and write another chapter at 4am.
> 
> Me: But what about all the people who were waiting on the next chapter? I couldn't just leave them hanging!
> 
> Loki: I'm sure they could have survived until morning. You really are a crazy mortal, you know.
> 
> Me: Yes, yes I am. 
> 
> Loki: And now I suppose you'll justify staying up even longer to watch and see if anyone comments.
> 
> Me: Yups.
> 
> Loki: You are probably the only one awake. No one is going to comment for several hours.
> 
> Me: What about people in other time zones?
> 
> Loki: You are an impossible mortal.


	35. The Lies Loki Tells Himself

_Mischief, are you busy tonight?_

Loki was surprised to see Darcy’s text; she could only have gotten back a couple days ago from the trip. 

He answered, _No, why?_

_It’s New Year’s Eve and Grace is dragging me to a party. Besides, you missed the last one. :P_

Loki grimaced. Yes, he remembered last New Year’s quite well. It seemed so long ago even though it was only one Midgardian year. 

_I shall be there soon._

_Awesomes._

~~~~~~~~~

Darcy couldn’t believe what she’d just done. She’d invited Loki- alien space prince Loki, her best friend Loki- to a New Year’s party. Still, he had missed the last one and it would be a masquerade, so no one would recognize him hopefully. Besides, if she hadn’t invited Loki, Grace would have indubitably been trying to set her up with some guy all night.

~~~~~~~~~

When Loki arrived in Darcy’s bedroom, he found she was still in her PJs, something that had become quite common during her winter break. 

“Hi Loki!”

“Hello, Darcy.” 

“So, um, what’s up?”

“I believe you invited me to attend a Midgardian festivity.” Loki noticed that Darcy seemed unusually nervous this evening.

“Oh, right. So the party starts at 9 and my mom’s driving us.”

“Won’t she think it’s suspicious if I’m here in your house?”

“Well duh, that’s what the cloak is for. Or you can just make yourself invisible again with your magic.”

“Or I can teleport there and wait invisibly until you arrive.”

“Okey dokey.”

“So what do Midgardians wear to such festivies?”

“I’ve got no idea what guys are supposed to wear.” She nodded to the laptop on her desk. “You’re welcome to do some research while I get changed, though.”

By the time Darcy reappeared from the bathroom, Loki had magicked himself into dark jeans, a soft green shirt, and a black jacket. He thought he had done rather well if the pictures he’d found online were any indication, but truly, his fashion sense paled next to the magnificent outfit Darcy was wearing. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her wearing something like that. 

She must have noticed him staring, because she said, “I know. It’s a bit much. Grace picked it out.” She tugged at the hem of her short, black sequined skirt. Her top was decorated with wide blue and black stripes and the sleeves were a see-through, black sparkly fabric.

Loki realized he’d paused a bit too long without saying anything. “I think you look radiant.”

“Thanks.” She drew the cloak around her shoulders and Loki noticed how well it matched her outfit. 

“You’re bringing the cloak?”

“Yeah, I like keeping it around in case I find good excuses to use it.”

“Ah, of course.”

“Lokes, can you make me a cooler mask than this.” She held up a plain black mask that looked like it belong to a child’s superhero outfit.

“Of course.” He took a few minutes to fix the mask. He made sure the shaped fit her face and then went to work on the accents. Then, he handed her the mask, now blue, black, sparkly, floral, bejeweled, and quite elegant. 

She tried it on and- Valhalla, did she look divine. 

“Thanks, Loki.” She smiled, probably noticing him staring. Loki didn’t know why he was caught so flustered tonight. “Hey,” said Darcy, “Yours should be like the Phantom of the Opera mask, only black.”

There. Good. Something to concentrate on. Make the mask, Loki. He did. 

“That looks great, Loki.”

“Why thank you. You look quite ravishing yourself.” He smiled. “Well, I’d best be off to wait for your arrival.” And with that, he made himself invisible.

“But-“ Darcy watched him vanish, then rolled her eyes, “the party doesn’t start for an hour and a half.” 

Then, Loki teleported himself away, though not to Grace’s house to wait for the party. He needed somewhere to think. 

He grabbed a handful of the white sand he was sitting on and let it filter through his fingers. Had it really only been a few days since he had been sledding down this very hill with Darcy? He sighed. As of late, things had become much more complicated. Darcy was his best friend, closest confidant, and advisor, but this- this confusion over her- was something he could not confide to Darcy for fear of risking losing the person he was closest to in the world. Yes, he was courting Sigyn, but Loki wasn’t so sure that their courtship was what a relationship ought to be. Yes, he liked Sigyn and enjoyed her company. He thought Sigyn was pretty as would any Asgardian, purely objectively. There was a kindness in her that he had not thought could live in the palace he had come to know quite well. But he could not imagine confiding in Sigyn the things he told Darcy. He would never take Sigyn on the adventures that he and Darcy shared. 

Now, he didn’t think he wanted to court Darcy. It would likely make things quite awkward betwixt them. He just didn’t like the thought of Darcy courting some Idiot Boy who would take his best friend away from him. Now, to be fair, Darcy had not ignored him in favor of an Idiot Boy yet, but she had dated them, hadn’t she? It just proved that however close they might be as friends, Darcy simply did not think of him in that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Googled an image of how I think Darcy's mask looks: http://in1.ccio.co/j8/v1/T2/518t46V51L.jpg?iw=300
> 
> Comments are the best and you know where to leave them. ;)


	36. Grace's Dad Joke Has Unintended Side Effects

“Hi Darce!”

“Hey Grace!”

“No date tonight? I thought you said you were bringing someone.”

“He’s meeting me here.” But where was Loki? He’d said he’d be here. Maybe he realized he didn’t want to come. 

“Well he’d better get here soon, cause with that outfit you won’t be dateless for long.” Grace looked smug. After all, she’d picked the outfit herself.

Just then Loki’s voice interrupted their conversation. “I hope I’m not late.”

“You are actually, Mischief.” She laughed slightly, hoping her laugh didn’t sound nervous.

“Well,” he whispered, “I read online about being ‘fashionably late’ and thought it was proper for a Midgardian celebration like this.” Actually, he’d just gotten caught up in his thoughts and lost track of the time. 

Grace looked at the two with her eyebrows raised. “So, Darcy, want to introduce me to your date?”

“Oh, he’s just a friend.”

Grace looked at Darcy impatiently, then switched her gaze to Loki. “Nice to meet you, Just A Friend. Say, that’s a kind of long name. You got a nickname or something?”

“Actually,” Loki said, “’Just A Friend’ is long for Justin.”

“Nice save, Justin.” To Darcy, she said, “I approve.” Then she went to go mingle, leaving Darcy and Loki alone.

Darcy broke the silence that had settled in Grace’s absence. “So, you’re Justin tonight?”

“Well, if you’d prefer I could go by ‘Just A Friend’ so all of your prospective Midgarian boyfriends,” he enunciated that last word with more disgust than the rest of his bitter words, “know you don’t care for me in that manner.”

Darcy was taken aback. Since when was Loki insulted by being called her friend? Didn’t he want to be her friend? She thought about what his words implied. Maybe he was just embarrassed in front of Grace? But why? He didn’t even know Grace really. 

So she said the only thing she could think of, “I’m going to get some punch.”

~~~~~~~~~

_Great_ , thought Loki, bitterly sarcastic, _now she’s mad at me. And who could blame her? He’d just snapped at her over her declaring him a friend. She must know now, how he thought of her. She must know and she dislikes it so much she can’t stand the sight of me anymore and has gone to get punch._

_He imagined what she would say if she were able to hear his thoughts. Probably, ‘Stop being such a drama queen.’ But even so, he didn’t think he was being dramatic. He’d just ruined everything. What a way to end a year._

~~~~~~~~~

Grace saw Darcy by the refreshments and Justin sulking in the corner, not even pretending to watch the New Year’s stuff on tv. Grace sighed to herself. Darcy was her best friend, but she could be quite a handful. Well, time to go help Darce out. She walked over to the corner where Justin was.

“Hey Justin, what’s up?”

“Nothing of consequence.”

Wow, this kid talked funny. “Doesn’t sound like nothing to me. Where’s Darcy?”

“Your friend is at the refreshments.”

“She’s not your friend, too?”

“She is.” Then he laughed a short, self-pitying laugh. “She’s my best friend.”

Best friend? Well, that was news to Grace. Darcy had never mentioned Justin to her. How could he be her best friend? Grace was Darcy’s best friend. Still, all that time Darcy spent ‘reading’ and ‘studying’. Maybe she’d been hanging out with this poor sap. Or maybe, probably, Darcy really liked him but was too scared to admit it so she told him he was her best friend. Now that sounded like something Darcy would do.

“So why aren’t you hanging out with her then, Justin?”

“I wouldn’t want to get in the way.”

“In the way?”

“You would not understand, mortal.”

Weirdo. Still, if Darcy liked him… well Best Friend wasn’t a title without responsibilities. “Okay, Justin, lose the attitude. There’s two things you need to realize. One: we’re all mortal, weirdo. Two: I’m Darcy’s best friend and obviously a better one than you since you’re over here sulking instead of spending time with her when. She. Invited. You.”

The kid looked shocked that she had spoken to him in that way. Well good. He needed to learn that you don’t get to hurt Darcy without going through her. He wasn’t saying anything. Sighing, she grabbed his arm and said, “Come on.” 

She was walking him towards the refreshment table. As they got close, though the crowd got thicker, so she called over to Darcy. “Darcy!”

But, after she turned her head and before Darcy looked over, Justin seemingly vanished. She hadn’t felt him pull away from her grasp. It was like he’d just apparated or something. 

Darcy pushed through the throng of people towards her. “What’s up, Grace?”

Well, even if Justin had flaked, she could still try to fix whatever was wrong. “What’s wrong with you and Justin?”

“I don’t know.” Darcy looked around, looking for Justin in the see of masked high schoolers. “I think he’s mad at me.”

“What’s he mad about?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why’d you say he was just your friend? It’s obvious that you like him.”

“Grace! He could be listening.”

“Darcy, he’s not anywhere in sight and it’s a loud party. What, do you think he’s listening invisibly nearby?”

“I hope not.”

Grace shook her head. Darcy was definitely a weirdo, too. The two would be perfect together.

“Well, anyways, I totally ship it, so go find him and talk it out, okay?”

“Graceeeeeee.”

“Come on, Darce.”

“I’ll think about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These two... what are we going to do with them? Every time I try to do something nice for them, like make them go to a dance together, they muck it up. *sigh* Still, it's not midnight yet, so maybe things will work out, still.
> 
> Grace: Author! I can't believe you just said that 'maybe things will work out.' Are you trying to jinx this? Go knock on wood or something!
> 
> Me: Um, there's no wood nearby. Does fake wood count?
> 
> Grace: *facepalm*
> 
> Me: Hey! I'm trying my best!
> 
> Grace: Just backspace it from the chapter end notes.
> 
> Me: I can't do that! Then I'd have to get rid of this entire conversation because it wouldn't make sense and the readers would think I'm mad.
> 
> Grace: *facepalm*
> 
> Loki: Don't worry, Author. I'm sure they already know you're quite mad.
> 
> Me: What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to hear this!
> 
> Loki: I was listening invisibly nearby. ;)
> 
> Me: *facepalm*


	37. Happy New Year's

“Darcy, it’s 11:30 and you haven’t talked to him yet.”

“So?”

“Darcy! It’s almost midnight on New Year’s and you’re not even going to talk to the guy you liiike?”

“I already told you: we’re just friends.”

“He says he’s your best friend. And seeing as how you haven’t mentioned him to me, your best friend forever, I’m kind of thinking that ‘best friend’ is code for ‘guy I totally liiike but am too scared to tell I liiike him’.” 

“Grace.”

“You know I’m right.”

“I don’t even see him. He probably left.”

“Well, do you have his number?”

“Yeah.”

“Then text him.”

“Fine.” Darcy texted Loki, _Hey, where are you? I can’t find you._

The response came back almost instantly, _I’m on the roof, avoiding the annoying mortals._

Darcy grimaced. So he was still mad at her. She texted back, _Does that include me?_

_Of course not. You aren’t an annoying mortal._

_Good. Meet me at the picnic table in the backyard; I can’t very well go meet you up on the roof._

~~~~~~~~~

Loki stretched. He had just finished identifying all the constellations when Darcy had texted him. It had taken her over an hour to even notice he was gone. _See, Loki,_ he thought to himself, _she truly does not care for you that way. So stop fretting over it and accept it. Having Darcy as a best friend was not worth losing Darcy altogether over wanting to court her. And he wasn’t even sure he wanted to court her! Well, he’d better get to the picnic table Darcy had specified._

~~~~~~~~~

“Hi Loki.”

“Hello Darcy.” He swallowed, then said, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“I have not been a very good friend this evening.”

“Oh, Lokes, it’s alright. I shouldn’t have made you come. And, well, you just have to ignore Grace when she gets like that.”

“She talked to me earlier this evening.”

“She mentioned that.”

He had to tell her he liiiked her without telling her. “She’s convinced I have romantic interest in you.”

“She said the same thing about me.”

“Well,”

“Yeah?”

What was he supposed to say? “If it will make the remainder of your evening more enjoyable, I could just leave.”

~~~~~~~~~

Grace wasn’t eavesdropping. She just happened to be crouch behind the grill near where her BFF was having a private conversation. It wasn’t her fault she could hear every word, right?

That said, she had a lot of questions. For one, what was with ‘Loki’? Was that a weird pet name or something. Wait! He wanted to leave? Gah! These two were impossible.

“Loki, if you don’t want to be here, I don’t want to force you to stay.”

“It is not that, Darcy.”

“Then what is it?”

Ooh, he was going to tell her he liiiked her. Grace just knew it. She had to see Darcy’s face when she realized he liiiked her back. She moved her head to peek around the corner. Justin still hadn’t said anything. Poor guy must be pretty nervous. He narrowed his eyes, then swallowed.

“It is something which I do not wish to discuss in front of your friend hiding behind the grill.”

Darcy spun on her heel, then started towards the grill. 

Well, there was nowhere to hide. Grace stood up, “Ok, guys, you got me.”

“Grace!”

“Darce, c’mon.”

Justin was still standing by the picnic table. Grace watched as Darcy ignored her, turned to him and said, “I’m out of here, Loki. You coming?” A look passed between the two and then Darcy was throwing her blanket/cape over herself.

“Darcy, I’m sorry. What are you doing?” she said.

Darcy’s head looked up under the blanket. “You know what, Grace: poof.”

And then, Grace assumed she’d lost her mind, because Darcy and Justin had vanished in plain sight.

~~~~~~~~~

Invisibly, Loki walked to the spot where Darcy had poofed. He hoped she’d had the common sense not to move. Without incident, he grabbed her invisible arm and teleported them back to her room.

Darcy looked sheepish when she took off the cloak. “I’m sorry this was such a disaster, Lokes.”

“It is clearly not your fault, Darcy.” He couldn’t believe he’d ruined yet another New Year’s for her. Though, there was still eight minutes until midnight. “Darcy, want to go celebrate a traditional Midgardian New Year’s in the City of New York?”

“You mean Times Square?”

“Yes.”

“It’s going to be packed.”

“Well I do have this little thing called magic, you know.”

~~~~~~~~~

She’d been right; it was packed. Loki had managed to teleport them to the very front of the masses of sheeple. It was so, so cool. She could see all the news reporters being followed by bright lights and cameras roving around. One was even headed in her direction.  
Coming straight toward her.  
Putting a microphone in Loki’s face and asking where he was from.

“New Mexico” he lied smoothly.

“Kiss for the camera.” The reporter was saying. 

“Darcy?” asked Loki.

She couldn’t respond. What would she say? Kiss Loki? He’d know she liiikes him? Answer Loki? New Mexico? Kiss Loki????

~~~~~~~~~

With a single spell, he simultaneously made Darcy and himself invisible whilst casting doubles for each of them. With another spell, he made the doubles kiss.

Darcy- the real Darcy- smiled at him. “Why not knock their socks off, Loki?”

He grinned. “Very well, my dear.” 

Let’s just say that the doubles’ kissing was causing the news show’s rating to be changed to PG-13.

When the camera panned away, Loki canceled the doubles.

“Have I ever mentioned that you’re the best?” Darcy said, smiling at him.

“Well we wouldn’t want to inflate my ego.” 

Darcy guffawed. “As if it could get any bigger.”

“Hey!”

Some time passed as they watched the many bright screens around them and took in the sheer multitude of Midgardians crowded together for this hallmark of time passing.

10…  
9…

~~~~~~~~~

8…  
7… She couldn’t wait any longer. Seven more seconds and she’d lose her nerve.  
6…

~~~~~~~~~

5…  
4… Darcy leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. His eyes went wide. What? He’d thought she didn’t want to kiss him after how she’d frozen a few minutes ago.  
3…  
2…  
1…  
And then they were hugging, shouting, “Happy New Year!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently trying to decide whether I should keep going with this or end it here and make a sequel that picks up several years later. When I started this, it was only going to be the first two chapters lol. I'd love to get your thoughts on both that and the chapter in the comments. :)


	38. What is Lost in Thought is Found in Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long break between chapters. I was drowning in schoolwork and I can't promise regular updates, sadly. It depends on how much the Homework Gods hate me. 
> 
> But anyways, here's the next chapter and I'm hoping to write more soon. :)

_“Darcy! Darcy! Pick up your phone!”_

Delete.

_“Darcy, a funny thing just happened. I was watching the tv and- just call me back, okay?”_

Delete.

_“Darcy? I think you’re mad at me or something? But we should talk.”_

Delete.

_“Are you still staying over at my house tonight?”_

Delete.

“Darcy, why are you deleting all those messages?”

“Loki, you know why.”

“You should at least respond.”

“Fine.”

Darcy texted Grace, _Staying with another friend. Ttyl._ Then, Darcy silenced her phone and turned to Loki, who had teleported them away from the crowds after the midnight madness back to her bedroom.

“Asgard?”

“Definitely. I could use some time away from Earth.”

“Excellent.”

~~~~~~~~~

Loki had excused himself once they’d gotten to the palace, saying he needed to go attend to some business with Thor. Really though, he just needed to think- away from Darcy. 

She’d kissed him.

He thought it again: _She kissed him._

Did she fancy him, too, then? Or was it just for the Midgardian tradition? It was just on the cheek. If he remembered correctly, that was seen as a friendly gesture in many parts of Midgard. This is what he got for wishing for something so much; he couldn’t tell if it was happening or if he was imagining more of what was.

Lost in thought, he plucked a rose from the garden he was walking through and began tearing off the petals, internally laughing at the Midgardian habit of predicting whether someone loved you or not. _She loves me._ He tore a petal and watched as it fell to the ground. As he walked onward, he felt it crush underneath his sole. _She loves me not._ He tore another petal and flung it away. This wasn’t helping. He tossed the abused bloom into the bushes.

“What quarrel have you with such a pleasant flower, Loki?”

He turned. “Mother, I am sorry. I was lost in thought.”

“Is there anything I can do to help you get found?”

He thought about it. His mother did have such clarity on even the issues he found most complex. Yet somehow he did not think he would want to share his current puzzlement with her. Then again, it’s not like his own thoughts were getting him anywhere.

Frigga chuckled, “You are quite lost, indeed, Loki. Come, let us have some tea.”

~~~~~~~~~

Darcy wasn’t quite sure what to do. Loki had run off as soon as they’d gotten to the palace. He’d run off. Right after she kissed him! And he hadn’t said anything about it. It was like she’d jumped off a cliff and was waiting for Loki to let her know whether she was falling or flying. 

She was so distracted by her mind’s musing that she nearly collided with Hogun in the hallway. 

“Lady Darcy, my apologies, I almost ran into you.”

“Nah, don’t worry, Hogun, it was my fault.”

“If you’ll pardon me for speaking candidly, you seem discontent.”

“I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“Loki.” 

Darcy noticed he said the name resignedly, but resolutely. “Yes.”

“And this is no diplomatic matter, I surmise.” She started to protest, but he continued, “Lady Darcy, as much as you and His Highness like secrets, your feelings for each other are plain to all of Asgard.”

“Um.”

“Might I offer some advice?”

“Uh, I guess.”

“Be cautious with Loki. He does not make friends easily and he can be fickle in expressing his friendship.”

Darcy sensed there was a story there, but she didn’t press. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“I don’t know the particulars of your dilemma, Lady Darcy, but remember: inaction is action.”

“I know. But I’m kind of tired of taking all the risks myself, ya know?”

“Well, in my experience, if someone is not acting on their feelings, it is for one or more of three reasons. Firstly, if they believe the other would be happier with another. Secondly, if they do not believe the other could possibly feel the same for them. And, thirdly, because they are afraid.”

“You know, Hogun, I think this is the most I’ve ever heard you talk.”

“Yes, well, it takes discipline to remain silent, but courage to speak words that matter.”

“Wow, you’re like a walking fortune cookie.”

Hogun smiled and nodded before continuing down the corridor.

~~~~~~~~~

“Now, tell me what is the matter, Loki.”

She had steeped the tea while Loki thought of how best to phrase his troubles. He took a sip, inhaling the steam. “I have feelings for Darcy and I think she may or may not feel the same way.”   
His eyes widened. That was not what he had rehearsed: _Mother, I am trying to puzzle what position a particular member of the court has on a certain issue._ What could have… he looked down at the tea, trying to recall what his mother had taught him. Yes, he remembered now.

“Yes, Loki, I apologize. I thought it would be better if you did not dance around this conundrum of yours any longer.”

“You used magical herbs to make a truth tea? To use on me?”

“Yes, I could stand you lying to me, but it would have done you no good to keep lying to yourself.”

“Well now that you have heard my problem, how do I fix it?”

“Oh, Loki.” She looked at him with an expression he could not quite place. “I cannot help you in this more than I have by helping you to stop lying to yourself.”

“But you said-“

“Now, Loki, I think it might benefit you to speak with Darcy some more.”

He had an idea. “May I borrow the tea?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, nothing makes me want to write more than reading (and rereading) all the lovely comments you readers leave me. So if you are so inclined, please please please leave some more. ;P


	39. Tea for... Four?

“Oh, there you are!” 

Loki walked stiffly onto the terrace. “Hello, Darcy.”

“What’s with the tea?”

“It’s a tea that is brewed with a special flower that makes the drinkers tell the truth.” Why hadn’t he realized that the tea would still be affecting him for a few more hours?

“Woah, that’s so cool! Where’d you get it?”

“My mother and I were having tea earlier.”

“Nice.” She paused, thinking, “Wait, does that mean you drank some?”

“Yes.” He had to figure out a way to get out of this situation. No wonder his mother had chuckled when he’d asked to take the tea.

“So why did you bring the tea with you?”

“I- I was going to suggest we drink it.”

“Oh yeah? Why?”

“I was going to ask you something.”

“I can’t believe you drank that; it’s such an un-Loki thing to do. No wonder you were hiding.” 

“I wasn’t hiding!”

Just then, a voice broke through the cool, night air. “Lady Darcy! Loki! How good to see you!”

“Thor! You’ll never guess what happened to Loki.” She fought her laughter. 

“Now, Darcy, I think it would be best if Thor did not know.” Loki couldn’t believe his awful luck. Surely Darcy wouldn’t tell his brother.

“I’ll tell you over a cup of tea, Thor.” She took the pot of tea from Loki and poured Thor a large cup. After Thor had a sip, she sniggered and told Loki, “He’s all yours.”

She left the room and went to find Sif. Unsurprisingly, Sif was in the barracks. She tapped her shoulder and Sif sprang up in a defensive position. 

“Darcy! What are you doing here?”

“Shh…” She whispered, “Thor and Loki just drank some truth tea and it’s going to be hilarious. Come on.”

“This I must see.” Sif whispered in return.

~~~~~~~~~

“Brother, how did you get yourself into such a predicament?”

“I was trying to get Darcy to drink the tea so I could find out how she feels about…” he gulped, “us.” Why had Darcy left him alone with Thor?

“Did it never occur to you to just ask her?”

“Please don’t be ridiculous, Thor.”

Darcy and Sif entered the room. Sif quickly dragged Thor off to the side and was chortling while Thor’s cheeks reddened within minutes. 

“So how was Thor?”

“Annoying as always.”

“Oh come on, Loki. It can’t be so awful to have to tell the truth for once.”

“It is when you’re me.”

“Look who’s being dramatic again.”

“Darcy, I thought you had understood that I am forced to be honest right now. Yet still you think all of this is mere dramatics?”

“I- I, uh, I didn’t mean…” Loki looked genuinely hurt.

Suddenly, his arms were pinned behind his back and he watched as Sif did the same to Darcy. 

“Sif! Thor!” Darcy complained, “What’s going on?”

Thor, still influenced by the tea, said, “We have decided that you and Loki have wasted too much time dancing around each other.”

Sif rolled her eyes. “And you asked why we had to do a sneak attack, Thor. Anyways, Darcy, you’re just going to have some tea and then Thor and I are going to ask you and Loki a couple questions.”

Darcy’s eyes were wide as saucers as she turned to Loki, who was still being restrained by Thor, “This is a whole new take on Truth or Dare, huh, Lokes?”

“Yes, yes it is.” Loki was torn. He knew what Darcy wanted him to do: simply magic them out of the situation. He was ashamed that a small part of him wanted to find out what Sif’s interrogation would reveal. Then, he created a double of himself and directed it to smash the teapot onto the stone floor. 

Sif let go of Darcy. Thor let go of him. He dashed to Darcy’s side and teleported them to near the portal to Midgard. 

“Well, that was fun.” Darcy said, sitting in the grass and looking up at the Asgardian constellations. “I wonder what they were going to ask. And no, Loki, no more talking. If we’re going to be discussing something important, you’d better be telling me the truth because you want to, not because you have to.”

“Darcy,”

“Nope, we can talk about whatever it is you were going to ask me and why you thought I would lie about it next time. I’m going back to my room to get some sleep before I have to deal with Grace and the rest of my annoying realm.” She shook her head. “See you soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it's taken so long for an update. Work just piles up sometimes. Anyways, the next chapter is written, so once I proofread it, that will be posted. As always, comments are very, very appreciated.


	40. Some Other Time

“Sir, have you seen this?”

Coulson shook his head, still paying attention to the file in his hands.

“The systems flagged a series of calls to Darcy Lewis. You asked to be notified if there was any more new information on her case.”

“Well, let’s see.” He looked at the report from the system.

_Subject: Darcy Elizabeth Lewis_  
Significance: Possible connection to data breach in Triskellion files. Only known connect to subject ‘HP’.  
Incident report: Voice calls to subject’s phone exhibiting levels of strain outside of standard variance algorithm. See attachments for automated transcripts and original files. 

“I don’t have time for this right now. Besides, it’s probably nothing; teenagers are always outside of the normal levels of voice strain for no reason.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Send it to a junior agent who’s connect to the case.”

~~~~~~~~~

Darcy groaned when she finally woke up the next day. What a way to start the new year, huh? She plugged in her phone, which had died after she forgot to plug it in when she got back from Asgard. There weren’t any messages from Grace thank goodness. She walked downstairs to pour herself a bowl of frosted flakes. 

“Darcy? What are you doing home? Weren’t you staying with Grace?”

“I was tired and Grace was having fun at her party, so I left.”

“Oh, I didn’t hear you come in last night. Well, happy new year, darling.”

“Thanks, you, too.”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, mom.” Darcy said, in an exasperated tone. 

“Darcy.”

“I’m fine, jeez.” No way was she telling her mom what had her preoccupied.

“Did you make any new years resolutions?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m going back to bed.” With that, she put her bowl and spoon in the sink and trudged upstairs. She plopped onto her bed ungracefully, surprised when a muffled “oof” resounded from under her bed.

~~~~~~~~~

Jemma Simmons frowned at her computer screen. The file she’d been sent to do a rather routine training analysis on was beginning to seem not so routine. Streetlight cameras had Darcy- the subject- approaching the address where she was supposedly attending her friend’s New Year’s party. The audio files from ‘Grace’ sounded, well, the best way she could describe it was freaked out. 

She played the file again: _“Darcy, a funny thing just happened. I was watching the tv and- just call me back, okay?”_

She’d made a guess that the reference to watching something on television would likely have been the New Year’s Eve celebration and found what appeared to be Darcy Lewis kissing a dark-haired boy who looked a lot like the sketch of ‘HP’ in the middle of Times Square. But Darcy was not supposed to be in New York City. She played the video she had acquisitioned from news sites and security feeds of Times Square; luckily for her there were plenty of cameras. But, unluckily, the crowds made it difficult to tell where in the crowd Darcy and the boy had come from. Sighing she took a sip of her tea, or rather, tried to. She was out of tea again. Pushing back her chair, she stood and stretched.

“Fitz, can you take a look at this video while I make some more tea. I think my eyes have gotten tired of it.”

“Sure thing, Jem. What am I looking for?”

She pointed at Darcy’s file photo and then at her face in the New Year’s Eve video. “See this girl? She’s definitely in Times Square at this moment, but,” she rewound the video a few seconds, “I can’t find her anywhere before that.”

“Why do you even care about some girl on the telly?” Fitz called out.

“Routine assignment. She’s supposedly also at a party several hundred miles away at that time.” Jemma responded from in the kitchen as she refilled the kettle and rinsed her mug.

“Why’s SHIELD giving this to you? You’re a biochemist.”

“It’s from an old case several months ago. A SHIELD Academy recruit.”

“Weird.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Loki?”

“Present.” He rubbed the back of his head as he crawled out from under Darcy’s bed.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were under there.”

“It’s fine.”

“So…”

“Yes?”

“What?”

“You were going to say something?”

“I was?”

“It seemed likely.”

“Oh.”

“So.”

“Yeah?”

“Darcy, last night…” He paused. “Nevermind.”

“Ok.”

“Have you talked to Grace?”

“Nope.” She said, popping the P on ‘nope.’

“Well.”

“So what’s up?”

“What’s up?”

“Ugh, this is so awkward.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault- or at least not only your fault.”

“I apologize anyways.”

“Can we just move on and come back to this some other time?”

“As you wish.”


	41. Lab Partners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? Another chapter? During midterms? You betcha! 
> 
> Even when it's against my best interest, comments make me want to write more. So please let me know what you think! :)

“Fitz?”

“Hmm?” He said, distractedly.

“You’ve gone through all the crackers.”

“Oh, s’pose I have. This girl, she’s driving me crazy. I threw some recognition vectors on her and- nothing. I’ve tried enhancing the footage, and there’s no sign of her and her little friend anywhere else in that packed madhouse.”

“So, what do you think might have happened?”

“There’s another thing- right before they um, well y’know, there’s a space behind them, which isn’t weird except that it’s Times Square; it should be packed jam tight.”

“How odd. But how did they get there in the first place, then?”

“Dunno, it would have to be really high tech.”

“Well her scores show she could be quite intelligent and she might have high tech connections- she might be connected to someone hacking SHIELD.”

“Wow, hacking SHIELD. That’s impressive.”

“It’s also illegal, Fitz.”

Fitz shrugged, reaching back into the cracker package and feeling around for another, but coming up empty. “Hope what I found is enough t’ write your report, anyways.”

“Yes, it should be.” She got to typing.

~~~~~~~~~

“Fitz, I’ve got something.”

“Still that ruddy girl and her friend?”

“Yes, I found a video posted on one of her peer’s Facebook pages. It has her and the boy in the background, see?” She showed him the frozen frame of the video. 

“Yeah, so?”

“It’s timestamped just before midnight, Fitz!”

“Well, what-“

“It has to be something logical! Teleportation isn’t real.”

“Well what else could it be?”

“I’m going to call Coulson.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Excuse me, could you tell me where the room 107 is?” The girl who was asking had medium length brown hair and seemed, in Darcy’s opinion, frazzled.

“Yeah, why?” Darcy said.

“Well, I need to get there obviously.” The girl rolled her eyes in a manner that suggested she thought Darcy was an idiot.

“I’m on my way past there now. Follow me.”

The girl nodded and followed behind Darcy through the crowded hallway.

“Ta da!” Darcy said a few minutes later, “Welcome to the Chem lab.”

“Thanks.”

Darcy continued on walking until she got to her math class.

~~~~~~~~~

Darcy walked into her physics class- her last class of the day- and noticed that the girl from earlier was there. Her teacher was talking to the girl when the bell rang. 

As the rustling of people getting out their notebooks died down, their professor spoke, “This is Miss Foster. She’ll be joining us this semester.” He turned to ‘Miss Foster’ and told her, “You may go sit with Miss Lewis; everyone else has lab partners.”

Well, that was true. Darcy was good at physics, but that didn’t mean she liked it, so she had made it clear on the first day last semester that she preferred to work alone. But now this girl was here. Darcy sighed. Now she’d actually have to do her physics ‘group’ homework instead of just bringing it home to Loki, who thought it all laughably easy. 

The girl was taking notes in neat handwriting the next time Darcy looked up, and she noticed that the margins of Foster’s page were crowded with nearly illegible scrawls, most of which ended in question marks.

After what seemed like ages, the bell finally rang. Darcy slid off her stool and grabbed her bag; since she hadn’t even bothered to take out a notebook to pretend to take notes, she was always the first out the door.

A tap on her shoulder.

“Excuse me.” 

It was the girl. “Yeah?”

“I’m Jane.” She offered her hand to Darcy and Darcy gave it a perfunctory shake.

“Darcy.”

“I noticed you didn’t take any notes.”

“So?”

“Well, I really care about physics, so I wanted to make sure we’re on the same page for the group homework.”

“Look, I’ll just do the even questions and you can do the odds.”

“Actually-“

Darcy was out of there. “See ya, Foster.” She didn’t have time for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Darcy may not have time for Jane (silly Darcy), but hopefully you, wonderful reader, have time to *drumroll* *opens sealed envelope* *audience members gasp* leave a comment!


	42. Discussions and Dancing

“Lewis and Foster, please stay after class for a few minutes.”

Darcy groaned. She didn’t have time for this; she’d turned in her half and they were all perfect, so what was the problem?

“Girls, I have one and a half perfect homework assignments from you.” He held up the page of the even questions in Darcy’s handwriting with both names in the top right and a page with all the questions written in Jane’s somewhat messy handwriting also with both their names written in the top corner. “I’m giving you both a zero for last week’s homework. For this week, I expect you two to actually work together, alright?”

Jane was apologizing profusely and asking about extra credit. Of course. Darcy nodded distractedly. She needed to get back to her room for a political dinner on Asgard. She and Loki, as well as Thor and some other council members, would be at a feast with representatives of various organizations from the commoner’s class of Asgard. It had been one of Darcy’s ideas, since commoners getting audiences with Odin was rather rare. She gave a quick “See you tomorrow!” to Jane and her physics teacher, who were still talking, and walked out into the hallway towards the pick up loop.

“Darcy! Darcy, wait up!” The sound of Jane jogging towards her could be heard was music to Darcy ears. Really annoying music. That obnoxious song on the radio that you turn off as soon as the opening note plays.

Jane had caught up. As much as Darcy didn’t want to waste time talking to Jane, she wasn’t going to literally run away from her. She sighed and said, “What’s up?”

“We need to figure out a time and place to do the homework.”

“Look, I can just do it all. As long as we both don’t turn something in we’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know why you don’t like me, but I’m not stupid. You hear what he said: we both completed our problems perfectly.”

“I’ve really got to go. If you really want to ‘work together’ we’ll alternate who does the homework each week, k?”

“Can’t we-“

“See you tomorrow.” And with that, Darcy turned on her heel. She wasn’t sure what set her off so much about Jane. She wasn’t stupid; it was true. But Darcy hated the kind of smart kids who are smart and devote all their efforts to the waste that is the public education system.

~~~~~~~~~

The feast was once again sumptuous. Darcy never quite got used to the commonplace extravagance of Asgard. Still, despite all the Asgardian delicacies, Darcy was very glad Loki had agreed to magic her coffee instead of the customary wine; she was exhausted. 

“Darcy?”

“Hmm?”

Loki smiled and shook his head. “You’re distracted.”

“Sorry.”

“I was just asking if you were too tired to go talk to the citizens.”

“Right, yeah. Let’s do this.”

“Excellent, shall we divide and conquer? I’ll start on the left side on the room.”

“Sounds great.” Inwardly she was only thinking of sleep.

She walked through the people milling about by the buffet, shaking hands, saying how nice it was to meet them, too, listening to complaints, taking notes and taking names, agreeing to pass on ideas of theirs to Prince Loki, smiling, nodding- it was exhausting.

It was then that the music started. No one had mentioned that there would be dancing. She looked around to see if she could escape unnoticed to the edges of the hall. No such luck. Someone was already coming up to her. Say what you will about dancing, but in the palace, everyone knew that it was when most of the serious politicking happened. 

“Advisor Darcy, might I have this dance?” The man bowed. He had dark hair and was fairly tall, moderately handsome.

“Of course. And who are you?”

As she placed her hand on his should and he placed his on her waist, the man said, “I am Gideon Lindhson, a writer and representative of the writers’ union.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She said, completing a box step, “So, what brings you here this fine evening?”

“Many of us in the writers’ union write about the current events across the realm and of course the goings-on about the palace. I’m here to lobby for access to internal palace reports.”

“But many reports contain sensitive information. For the safety of Asgard, it cannot be released.” A quick twirl as the song reached a crescendo.

“Yes, yes, of course, but there are other reports- on the daily lives of the royals, financial information, committee rosters, meeting summaries- which readers would find quite edifying.”

“Hmm, I suppose a difficulty would be in determining which reports do not contain implications for security.” Step right, step, touch, pivot.

“Surely Prince Loki could develop a spell to sort them; he is truly a very talented sorcerer.”

“Yes, well, I shall certainly bring this idea to him.” Swing in, swing out.

“Thank you, Advisor Darcy.”

They continued dancing in silence for a few more moments. But, as the song drew to a close, Gideon spoke up again, “Lady Darcy, I hope you won’t find this too impertinent a question, but I am a writer on life at the palace and I simply cannot pass up on the opportunity to ask you a question in person: are you and Prince Loki romantically involved.”

“Gideon, I had thought so highly of you. Surely you are not one of the writers who fuels the gossip columns?”

“It’s what the people are interested in.”

“Ask me about inter-realm policies, ask me about Prince Loki’s domestic policies, about how some committee is working to solve the Asgardian people’s issues, but please don’t waste my time on rumors.”

“I apologize, Lady Darcy.” Then he bowed, as the song had ended, and her next dancing partner stepped up to persuade Darcy to their cause.

~~~~~~~~~

Loki was used to spending his evening dancing with strangers by now. He had gotten quite skilled at maintaining conversation while his mind wandered in other directions- like how great Darcy looked in her dress and how good she had gotten at Asgard’s dances in her time as his advisor.

Suddenly, the music stopped. The scream of a string instrument that was similar to Midgard’s violin fading into the cacophony of confused murmurs spreading throughout the hall. 

“Excuse me, I must go attend to this.” Loki said to the woman he was dancing with. He barely registered her response as he teleported to the front of the hall. 

Someone was standing in the center of the orchestra. She was wearing white robes with silver accents and a silver crescent moon was fastened with white ribbon around her forehead. By the Norns! A norn indeed. 

And then the norn began to speak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this was a rather longish chapter, the next one is just going to be the norn's monologue. It's written and should be posted tomorrow. In the meantime, I'd love to hear what you thought of the chapter. :)


	43. Grave Tidings

_I bring tidings, a grave tiding:_  
_You know not what the crown is hiding._  
_In stormy weather, the clouds block the light_  
_as the king of lies keeps the truth out of sight._  
_A princehood concealed from the little prince_  
_and not a soul has seen him since_  
_the winter so foul turned red and blue._  
_But alas I have come to tell what is due._

_On the brink of chaos and death,_  
_Odin’s son will take a final breath._  
_The gates shall be secured with iron bars,_  
_while one runs to the holes between stars._  
_The unexpected child, concealed in lies,_  
_will fail to hear a beloved’s cries._  
_When the time has come, the serpent will bark_  
_as a Mother’s war plunges all into the dark._

_The visitor will make a decision,_  
_and seek out the gift of Idunn._  
_As Yggdrasil’s blood is spilled,_  
_a friend of the fiercest is killed._  
_The court and the city shall weep,_  
_and so shall farmers attending to their sheep._  
_The tears spur the battle on once more_  
_as the rage of a prince tries to settle the score._

_The hammer meets indifference’s nail_  
_and the chained prince will go pale._  
_And his fate shall rest with a friend of the impostor,_  
_in the hands of a Midgardian named Jane Foster._  
_Words meet heartbeats,_  
_world’s sword retreats._  
_Three truths you will uncover:_  
_the lie, the liar, and the lover._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got to admit, I'm pretty proud of this poem. Also, I tried to pack a ton of double meanings and vagueness in there. 
> 
> I'm absolutely dying to hear your speculation about it- and who knows? Maybe some of your ideas will shape the next chapter. ;)


	44. Meetings and Meanings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I updated and I must sincerely apologize. I was plagued by a combination of being busy and awful writer's block. But, finally, I've figured out where I want this to go (I think). I'm really excited for the upcoming chapters and I hope some of you wonderful readers are still out there. Enjoy the chapter!

Darcy didn’t know what was going on. The music had stopped abruptly and some lady had started speaking in a steady voice before vanishing. People around here were murmuring. She saw Gideon and other writers scribbling, no doubt transcribing the remarks. How could this lady say such things at an official state event? Why hadn’t Loki and Thor arrested her? How did this person know about Jane?

“Ladies and gentlemen,” she heard Loki begin as the room quieted, “at this time I would ask you all to please return to your homes. Asgard must carefully consider the words of this Norn. Thank you.” 

People started to turn to her with inquisitive looks on their faces, but Loki appeared in front of her and teleported them both to his room.

She watched as Loki sunk onto his bed and held his head in his hands. 

“Loki? What just happened out there?”

Loki sighed. “That was a Norn, Darcy, a foreteller of fate.”

“Those things she said… they won’t all come true, right?”

“I’m afraid so, Darcy. The Norns do not lie.”

“But-“

“We should begin to minimize the frenzy this will send Asgard into. It’s going to be a rough week for public relations.” He pulled out a copy of the oration written in looping script. 

“Well, let’s start analyzing it, then. We can release an official statement before people work it out on their own.”

The two of them reread the speech. 

Loki spoke first, “None of this is good news. It seems that Thor or I shall die.”

“Or it could be some other prince. The poem talks a lot about some hidden princeling.”

“Still, there is too much in here that seems to loom close: a serpent barking, a Mother’s war. Darcy, I’m worried.”

“We’ll figure this out, Lokes.” she whispered, wrapping her arm around him and laying her head on his shoulder. They stayed like that, silently contemplating the Norn’s words for some time.

Still whispering, Darcy finally said, “Loki, there’s a new girl at my school named Jane Foster. She’s my physics lab partner.”

Loki turned to look at Darcy. This was worse than he could imagine. It was bad enough that the prophecy had implicated a Midgardian. Now to learn that this Jane Foster was a direct acquaintance of Darcy- she would not be mixed up in such a dangerous prophecy if it weren’t for him.

~~~~~~~~~

“All rise.” Darcy and Loki stood. The Allfather entered the council room. It was a special emergency meeting and all of the high lords were there. Thor was present, as were Sif and the Warriors Three; they’d witnessed the event and were on hand as witnesses.

Odin spoke, “We are all aware of the purpose for this meeting. At the previous evening’s feast, a Norn graced Asgard with her presence, but the news she foretold is troubling and known to the kingdom at large. Our usual procedures will not be effective for containing the panic. Now let me explain what I ask of you: we need solutions for the people, just the facts. I will not have this assembly turn into a rumor mill regarding implications. That is another meeting which may happen after we have handled the crisis at hand.”

The parliamentarian called on High Lord Bjarte to speak. “Fellow nobles, Allfather, I would like to agree with the Allfather. It is of vital importance that we take appropriate action. But we cannot ignore the meanings of the Norn’s prophecy. The things it speaks of are frankly more concerning than the crisis of the information leak.”

Darcy rolled her eyes. This whole thing was exactly what Bjarte would want. It called into question the Royal Household. To Darcy’s surprise, it was Thor and not Loki who answered Bjarte’s opening remark.

“Lord Bjarte, with all due respect, the people of Asgard are our primary concern. While the information is indeed concerning, especially to me, there is no way to tell for certain the meaning. Our time will be better spent deciding what information shall be the official policy and what actions we can take to make the Asgardian people feel more secure.”

The parliamentarian recognized Loki next, “My brother speaks with wisdom in this instance. Now, it is clear from you expression, Lord Bjarte, that you still do not agree. Therefore, I move to suspend debate and move to an unmoderated session of council so that we may mix to work on proposals.”

A few more speakers, some agreeing with Loki, others with Bjarte, spoke. After the minimum number of speakers for formal debate, Loki’s motion was voted on and the council moved into an informal brainstorming mode. Fortunately, Darcy and Loki had spent all night formulating their plan. Now, they could get input from council members whose input they valued and start gaining support for their ideas. 

“Darcy.”

“Tyr!” She grinned. “I was just about to come find you.”

“It is good to see you. Though the circumstances are quite grim.” He shook his head. “I was just reading the transcript of the prophecy before the meeting and I must say: it doesn’t sound good.”

“Yeah, Loki and I spent all night brainstorming solutions.”

“I imagine he, in particular, is quite concerned. Thor, too.”

“If you’d like to read what we came up with,” she held out a copy of their proposal and let Tyr pour over it. 

“This is quite thorough, Darcy.” he said after a few minutes. “But tell me, how will you let the commoners feel as if they are involved. This official statement on possible implications is reasonable, but it will do nothing to halt the dramatics and rumors that people will discuss.”

“The crown can’t possibly acknowledge such rumors. It will only give them weight.”

“Aye, but perhaps a committee where they might give input on interpretations which would periodically be relayed to the crown?”

“Brilliant. Write it up as a friendly amendment. I’ll see if Loki has found anything else to be amended and start getting signatories.”

The benefit of pre-writing the proposal was that while other council members fleshed out their ideas and argued over wording, Darcy and Loki could start getting the support needed to pass theirs. It was an old favorite committee trick for Darcy. She got a few signatures in support of the proposal and found Loki. Unsurprisingly, neither Thor nor the warriors had anything to contribute to it, though at least Thor signed it. Only a few minutes later, she had the necessary signatures to introduce it. Copies were made and distributed to each seat. After several more minutes, the parliamentarian called everyone back to the tables. 

The Allfather spoke, “Loki, please read your proposal.”

Loki cleared his throat and began to read,   
“Recognizing the need for action in light of the Norn’s recent prophecy,  
Reminding the people of Asgard that Norns’ prophecies can have multiple implications,   
Recommends taking the following actions:

1\. Starting a commission of the people of Asgard and its provinces to evaluate the prophecy with an emphasis on proactive actions that can be taken,  
2\. Utilizing Advisor Darcy’s studies of other Realms by appointing her to lead the search for the specifically named Midgardian from the prophecy and sending a stealth force to Midgard,  
3\. Fortifying Asgard’s emergency supplies and defenses,   
4\. Remaining actively seized in the matter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments do so make my day,  
> so please, dear readers, comment away.  
> For when I hear what you enjoy,  
> then my pen I am more eager to employ.


	45. Tyr and Tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know I finally posted a chapter this morning and now here I am with another. Seems crazy, right? Well it is because you tasertricks readers are actually the best. After not posting in an abhorrent amount of time, you all commented (which makes my muse quite happy). 
> 
> I had decided this morning, after posting a chapter on this fic and my other one (an Agents of SHIELD fic), that I would write another chapter for whichever one got more comments/kudos/views. Tasertricks won by a significant margin. Which just goes to prove that you all are the best. <3
> 
> TL;DR You're awesome and thank you.

The proposal passed, of course. Bjarte made some noise about how a more comprehensive statement needed to be released, but other than that it went well. And by well, Darcy meant that everything had gone wrong and people had tacked on way too much to their simple proposal. 

The committee liked the idea of taking concrete action on Jane Foster. It was something to do and being that it was Midgard, no one thought it would be that difficult. That might be why their ‘stealth team’ was Loki, Thor, and the Warriors Three.

“Loki,” she whisper-yelled, “how could you let them pick Thor and the Warriors Three as part of the stealth team?!?”

“Father thought Thor should get to see other realms. Besides, you’ll be able to come along and advise us on Midgardian culture.” 

“This is going to be a nightmare.”

“Darcy, I’m sure-“ Loki stopped abruptly and turned to address Tyr, who was approaching. “Greetings, Lord Tyr.”

“Please, no need to be so formal, Prince Loki. Darcy, I hope you haven’t let him become a boring politician since I’ve last seen you both.”

“Of course not, Tyr!” Darcy said. 

~~~~~~~~~

“Darcy, might I ask you to speak candidly about something?”

“That depends on what it is, Tyr.” They were sitting by the fire. Loki had left to sleep roughly an hour ago.

“How is Loki? I don’t want the answer that you’d tell the court, either.” Tyr paused. “He seems unwell, more preoccupied than usual.”

“Honestly, I don’t know anymore.” She, too, paused. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Tyr, but confiding in anyone seemed dangerous. She hadn’t confided in anyone in so long though. Her burdens were beginning to weigh too heavy on her heart. Loki had enough to worry about and she knew he already worried about her far too much. And she and Loki still hadn’t talked about New Year’s, either. “Tyr, I’m scared.”

“What frightens you so, Darcy?” He looked concerned.

“This. Telling anyone anything. Having to constantly be on guard for myself and Loki. Not knowing what he’s thinking anymore. Not knowing what I think. It’s too much.”

“Oh, sweet thing, you are breaking my romantic’s heart.” 

“Loki and I kissed, Tyr.”

“I shall contain my glee for this conversation, but I want you to appreciate what a grand effort it is on my part.”

She giggled a bit. “I know, I know. You’ve called it for a while. But that’s the thing. I should be happy right now. Loki and I should be happy. But we haven’t talked about it and he’s more distant than ever.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s not even the worst part! The worst part is that this should be my biggest concern but there’s so much going on here and back home that I spend all my time worrying about wars and politics and death and…” She wiped away the tears beginning to form in her eyes. “now I sometimes wish I could go back to before I ever came to the palace.”

“You need a break.”

“I know, Tyr. But now there’s this prophecy and I can’t stop thinking at what it all means.” She was crying a little, but continued, “You’ve read it and you know what it sounds like.”

“Aye, I do.”

“Loki says prophecies always come true. How can he say that when it says he’s going to die?”

“Darcy, it doesn’t necessarily say that.”

“But it does, Tyr. I wasn’t supposed to have to worry about Loki dying. It’s me who I was supposed to worry about.”

“What do you mean by that?”

She wasn’t listening. “Everything is falling apart and I can’t stop it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you comment you can have a virtual cookie and ice cream. (Because it's National Ice Cream Day.)


	46. Another Tyr Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! My muse must be back from vacation. 
> 
> Also, it occurs to me that I can't recall if I ever properly explained who Tyr is. Tyr's a character from the lovely Q_it's story 'There's a God Under My Bed" which is what inspired this work. So if you've read Q_it's you're all set, but if you're reading this as a stand alone, here's some background from Q's story (chapter 26):  
> "Lord Tyr was, Loki had to admit, an okay person."  
> "Tyr was every stereotypical teenage girl at a sleepover. It was adorable."  
> "'So you say…' Tyr trailed off, looking down as if in the midst of a great decision. 'I suppose I should tell you a secret. You see Darcy, I am a romantic.'"  
> Without spoiling anything I should also say that Tyr is quite young. If you want more details, check out Q_it's story. :)

Darcy was in love. That much was plain to Tyr, as it always had been. But now it was apparently more clear to Darcy. He’d held the girl as she cried and tried not to do so himself (he didn’t quite succeed). He was a romantic at heart and his heart broke for Darcy and Loki. It was like something out of Midgardian literature: the passion of love pitted against the briefness of a Midgardian’s life. Such troubles were usually avoided on other realms because their lives were so long. But now, with this prophecy, he had to agree with Darcy. It didn’t sound good for Loki.

He had woken early with the aim of speaking to Loki. Darcy might not approve of Tyr’s plan, but she didn’t know and these two deserved his help. He knocked on the door to Loki’s chambers. The response to enter was almost immediate.

“Ah, Tyr, I had wondered who might visit me so early.”

“Yes, I am glad you were awake. I wished to speak with you about the Lady Darcy.”

“Darcy? What’s wrong?”

The look on the young prince’s face confirmed his thoughts. He worried over her quite a bit, perhaps more than Darcy worried over him. “She seems overtaxed and there is something on her mind that seems to preoccupy her.”

“There is much to be fearful of in these times, Tyr. I wish I could convince her to rest, but you know the strength of her will.”

“Aye, I tried to convince her myself last night, but she would not budge. I had hoped you might be able to.”

“Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“If only I knew what has her so lost in thought, perhaps I could help more.”

“That is very kind of you, Tyr.” 

So he wasn’t going to take the bait. Time for the direct approach. “I’m worried about you, Loki- you and Darcy.”

Loki laughed a short, bitter laugh, “Everyone is worried about me, Tyr. Everyone is worried about a lot since the Norn issued my execution order.”

“Now, Loki, do not speak so dramatically.”

“Death is a rather dramatic thing.”

“I know and I’m sorry.” Tyr inhaled, then spoke again, “But I fear that you and Darcy are so busy worrying about each other that you haven’t bothered to worry about both of you.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.” said Loki.

His eyes said otherwise, though. “I know that you and Darcy kissed.”

“How?” Loki looked a mixture of fearful, curious, and murderous that would have caused more cowardly men to flee.

“She told me.” Loki appeared to calm down, luckily. “She also told me about the tea and that you two haven’t discussed it since.”

“And she sent you to ask me about it?”

“Quite the contrary. She would likely eviscerate me if she knew I was here.”

“Then why go against her wishes?”

“Loki, you have seen her lately, but you didn’t hear her voice break last night when we were talking. She needs help and you are best suited for the job.”

“I-“ Loki began.

“Loki,” Tyr interrupted. “It will be difficult, yes. But you love her and I am fairly certain that she loves you. If I have learned anything in my years of reading romance, it is that there is never a convenient time for love. Now, I think you owe it to yourselves to try and stop waiting for other things in your lives to change. You need to try especially now, because if the prophecy is to come sooner rather than later and it means what you think, do you want to have never tried?”

The meaning of Tyr’s words sunk in to Loki, just then. He had spent so long worrying about losing Darcy that he had barely considered losing himself. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Good.” Then an idea came to him. “And I’d like you both to join me for dinner in the garden this evening before I leave.”

“I thought you were leaving this afternoon.”

“I decided to stay late. I wished to watch the warriors train.”

They bid each other farewell and then Tyr got to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm... I wonder what Tyr's going to work on...
> 
> And now a pathetic parody on the chapter posted above. Enjoy and feel free to laugh!
> 
>  
> 
> Tyr: "Readers, I am glad you were awake. I wished to speak with you about comments."  
> Me: "Tyr, what's wrong?"
> 
> The look on the young author's face confirmed his thoughts. The author worried of comments quite a bit, perhaps more than readers worried about comments. "You seem overtaxed and there is something *cough* comments on your mind that seems to preoccupy you."
> 
> "There is much to preoccupy me in these times, Tyr. I wish I could convince people to comment, but you know how it goes."
> 
> "Aye, I tried to convince them myself last night, but no luck."
> 
> "Believe me, I've tried."
> 
> So the author wasn't going to take the bait. Time for the direct approach. "I'm worried about you, author- you and this story."
> 
> The author laughed a short, bitter laugh. "Everyone is worried about me, Tyr. Everyone is worried about a lot since I wrote that prophecy for the Norn."
> 
> "Now, author, do not speak so self-centeredly."
> 
> "Writing for comments is a rather self-centered thing."
> 
>  
> 
> Ok, I can't do this anymore. XD I'm going to start writing the next chapter. Author and Tyr out!


	47. Dinner with Tyr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Enjoy!

He didn’t know what he was expecting at dinner with Tyr, but this was not it. In the garden Tyr had specified sat a table in two chairs. The table had a basket of food, two place settings, a lit candle, and a note that was folded over so the outside read, ‘To be read by Loki and Darcy.’

“Hi, Loki.” The candlelight cast its glow onto Darcy entering the garden. 

“Hi, Darcy. How was your day?”

“It was alright. I’ve been talking with journalists all day.” She yawned, “Where’s Tyr?”

“I have no idea. He left us a note, though.”

Darcy walked over to the table and laid the note flat so they could read it:

_Loki, Darcy,_

_My friends, I am sorry to have deceived you, but as you can tell I am not here. I left Asgard as I had intended this afternoon. Consider this my parting gift. Talk, please. You deserve one evening of peace if nothing else._

_Tyr_

“Well then, guess we should just dig in.” said Darcy.

Loki smiled and set out the food. Darcy helped.

“What do you think he wants us to talk about?” she asked.

“He came by to talk to me this morning. He thinks we should talk about us, without the tea.”

“Sorry I told him. It just came out.”

“Tis fine. I trust Tyr.”

“So should we, um, talk, then?”

“Yes.” He paused, straightening, and looked at the tiny flame flickering on the table. It was mesmerizing. A good distraction. No, he thought. He wanted to see her reaction, whatever it may be. “Darcy, do you remember when you became my advisor and I told you to let me know if you ever wanted to stop because I cared more about your friendship than advisorship?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I just want to be clear that no matter what you think about what I’m about to say, being your best friend is still my first concern. Alright?”

Darcy nodded.

“I think you may have suspected for quite some time that I care for you- more than one cares for their advisor or best friend. And, well, I do. I adore you, Darcy.”

“Oh, Loki, that’s what you were so nervous to say?”

“Yes.” Why hadn’t she said anything yet?

“Well of course I feel the same way.” 

She felt the same way. It took his brain some time to process it. 

“I’m glad we finally managed to get that figured out.” She laughed and he joined her. “But, Loki, what now? Like are we courting? I don’t know if it’s the best idea, politically, right now and-“

“Darcy, you are too perfect. Right now I couldn’t care less what the politics of all this are.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Blushing, but smiling, Darcy said, “Loki, I’m serious. We have to think about this.”

“Do we really, though?”

“Yes.”

“Can we enjoy it for tonight, like Tyr suggested, at least?”

“Fine, but we’re clearing this up tomorrow morning, ok?”

He nodded in response. Then, he magicked a picnic blanket for the ground and said, “Stargazing?”

Darcy’s reply was to flop onto the blanket and pull him down with her. He knew she loved stargazing and always joked that she knew Asgard’s constellations better than Midgard’s since he would always point them out to her and tell her their stories.

“Is Gwydion up tonight?”

“It’s setting in the west. Blodeuedd is visible, there, though.” He pointed higher on the horizon where the familiar flower shaped constellation shone.

“Tell me the story, Lokes.”

“Alright.” He smiled and cleared his throat, “A long time ago, not long after the Nine Realms had formed, a maiden of the light elves waited on the queen in court.” He pointed to the constellation featuring particularly bright stars that represented the maiden. “A commotion arose outside the hall and the people discovered that a child had been left. The queen declared that the infant boy be cared for and gave the boy to that maiden. But in the night, a trickster and shapeshifter by the name of Gwydion,” he gestured again to Gwydion’s constellation, “came along and spirited the child away. Furious and skilled with magic in her own right, the maiden attempted to restrain Gwydion with magic, but his own protective magic was too strong. So she did the only thing she could think, and cursed the child. She used magic to ensure that the boy could not be wed to anyone without returning to the castle, hoping that this would cause him to bring the child back. She waited many years, but the boy never returned. Gwydion raised the child, teaching him the magic he would need to know to fill his role as a trickster. But eventually, the boy, named Lleu, wanted a wife and so he asked what could be done. Gwydion looked sad and told Lleu that he would go to Urd’s Well to seek out a solution. He returned after many nights with nine flowers, one plucked from each realm. Using these and his magic, he formed the flowers into the most beautiful maiden anyone had ever laid eyes on.” He pointed once more to the flower constellation. “They called her Blodeuedd, the word for flowers in the light elves’ language. But for her beauty, she was much coveted and another sorcerer sought to take her from Lleu. Fearing for Lleu’s life, Gwydion cast a protective spell to ensure that Lleu could not be killed day or night. The sorcerer was clever, though. At dusk, he tried to kill Lleu with an enchanted spear. Lleu, knowing no other way to survive, transfigured into an eagle, but was still caught by the spear. Injured and enchanted, he was stuck in that form.” Loki pointed to the vaguely eagle-shaped group of stars. “He tried to return to Gwydion and Blodeuedd, but neither recognized him. Over time, Gwydion grew old and weary and the enchantment on Blodeuedd ended, turning her to wilting flowers once more. Taking pity on him, the Celestials, beings who tended to Yggdrasil before the Nine Realms, placed the three of them in the night sky so they might always be together.” 

“That one’s my favorite.”

“Oh? And why’s that?”

“It’s sad, like a lot of constellation stories on both Midgard and Asgard, but it has a nice ending, at least.” She snuggled closer to him and eventually fell asleep.

Long after Darcy had drifted off, Loki lay there, absentmindedly fiddling with Darcy’s hair while watching the stars’ gradual motion overhead. Lleu had cheated death but sacrificed his connection to everyone he had ever loved to do it. Loki wondered whether he might find a better way to cheat his own death, which the prophecy seemed so insistent on. After a short while, he banished the thought from his mind and worked to memorize the moment. It wouldn’t last forever, he knew.

But then again, neither would the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The constellation story that Loki tells is a very generously modified version of a story found in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi from Welsh mythology. The character names in the story come from there, as well.


	48. An Audience with the Allfather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay in this chapter. This semester has pummeled all of my free time to nothingness, I'm afraid. Here's the next chapter. I intend to finish this story by the end of the year and then move onto an idea I have for a sequel. There are about five chapters left and a post credit scene.

Dawn came too early for Loki’s tastes this morning. Usually, he loved the long days of summer, but he would have given anything for a few more hours of night now. Darcy was still asleep on the picnic blanket, her curls pouring onto his chest. Had all that really happened last night? It seemed so much like a dream.

He had waited so long to say anything to her. He had been so afraid of what she might say. The number of times he had played it out in his mind… And now he knew. The thought brought a smile to his face. 

Closing his eyes, he decided that the world could let them be for a few more hours.

~~~~~~~~~

It must have been midmorning when Darcy woke, judging by the sun. She yawned and stretched. Sleeping on a blanket under the stars might seem nice in the movies, but at the end of the day you were still sleeping on the ground. 

“Good morning, Darcy.” Loki said, pressing a soft, quick kiss to her cheek.

“Let’s go back to sleep.” 

“I wish, my dear, but there is business to attend to. We’ve already slept quite late.”

She grumbled but got up. “Okay, okay. I guess we are members of the court during one of the most politically unstable periods in the last thousand years.”

“That’s the spirit.” He chuckled and then magicked them into their proper clothes for the day. “There.”

They walked towards the main hall, hoping to catch the remains of the morning meal. Before they were even halfway there, a court messenger intercepted them. 

“Prince Loki, Lady Darcy, the Allfather has been looking for you. He requests you go to the throne room immediately.” He began leading them in that direction. “Do not worry, though, I believe they’ve just started.”

Upon entering the throne room, they were greeted warmly by Thor, the Warriors Three, and Sif. 

They were greeted less warmly by Odin. “You are late, Loki.”

“My apologies, Allfather.” Loki gave no excuses; he may be great at lying, but that didn’t mean Odin would appreciate any justification he could give.

“Let us continue. Thor, please summarize what we have discussed thus far for your brother and his advisor.”

Thor looked every bit a kid in class being called out by a mean-spirited professor. “Um, father was telling us that he wishes the mission to Midgard to start tomorrow because… because the people of Asgard need action. It shall be me, Sif, Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg, you, and Darcy. Heimdall shall send us there via Bifrost tomorrow morn.” 

Darcy looked scared. He wished he could take her hand, tell her he wouldn’t let the others uncover her secret. 

“Where on Midgard will we be landing? Though the realm is not so large, its regions are quite varied.” He asked.

“You shall start on the island where we landed last.” Odin remarked with finality. “You should spend today gathering some supplies and figuring out your plans. When you need to return to Asgard, tell Heimdall.” As an afterthought, he added, “And Loki, write a statement to the people about all this.” 

“Yes, Father.”

“Very well, you are all dismissed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the hours of homework more bearable. Let me know what you think and/or rant about how pathetically long it's been since the last update.


	49. Loki's Solution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the story is written and I'm starting to plan out the sequel. Also, I'm sorry. These are going to be a rough few chapters. Don't hate me.

“Loki, what am I going to do? If we’re taking the Bifrost, people will notice on Earth. We’ll be on the news. I’ll be on the news. My parents- not to mention SHIELD- are going to think that’s strange.”

“We could change our faces.” Loki said evenly. Darcy was pacing and that was never a good sign.

“But how will we explain it to Thor and everyone?”

“What if we do more than that? What if we get everyone to change their appearance?”

“It would fall apart. I can’t be on Midgard in two places at once.”

“I’ll figure something out. Don’t worry.” He sighed. “But first, I have some other things to attend to. I’ll be back in a few hours to take you home so you can do some preemptive damage control there, if necessary, okay?”

She nodded and then cautiously, somewhat unsure of herself, gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Dropping her hands, Loki smiled and went to see his mother.

~~~~~~~~~

“Loki, it is good to see you.”

“Mother, I need your help.” He hadn’t been to see her since the prophecy. He could only guess what she thought he could be referring to. “I need to make a very particular elixir.”

“What is it you wish to make?”

“I need to remove a multitude of specifics from someone’s memory without damaging their brain.”

“Loki, that’s not usually allowed under Asgardian law except under very extreme circumstances, and when the person in question agrees.”

“I’ve checked the laws. They do not apply to what I intend.” Technically, those laws only applied to Asgardians and those who were subjects of the Allfather.

“I do not think this is a wise course of action.”

“It’s for her own good.”

“If you truly insist on doing this, I will not help you make the elixir you seek.”

“I’ll find a way, somewhere.”

“I know, my dear, and that is why I will help you make a less permanent potion. It will have the same effect, but rather than destroying the memories, it will extract them. It’s not technically allowed, as taking memories is considered theft of the highest order, but I suspect that these rules, too, do not apply to your situation.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

“Do not mistake my help for approval. I know you would do this with or without my help, but if I help you, there is less chance that her mind will be damaged.” Her expression was cold, for once. She could guess now what her son intended. He meant well, but it would hurt him more than he could imagine. Luckily, this was a potion that was known to the Aesir. It had been prepared for Midgardians many years ago, after the frost giants had attacked. It was by no means perfect. Memories were messy, and constantly in flux. One could find the remnants of the Midgardians’ memories in their legends and stories, dreams from a past they no longer believed was real. 

“I’m doing this for her.”

“Is this really what she would want, Loki? Have you asked her?”

“You’ve read the prophecy. Danger is coming and I am to be killed. Whoever wishes to kill me would certainly not mind killing those who are around me. It mentions a serpent’s bark- that can only be Frank. And he is around the both of us. It’s my responsibility. She was never supposed to be a part of this world.”

“Now, Loki, she may not be of Asgard, but that does not mean that she was not supposed to be part of your world.”

He did not like his mother’s piercing gaze scrutinizing him. He despised this plan. He wanted to do anything else. They had only just gotten around to realizing what they meant to each other. Was he really prepared to stop all of that? “If she stays and she dies, it will be my fault.”

“You cannot do this to save yourself from some the anticipation of possible guilt in the future.”

“I cannot do nothing when she’s in danger!”

Frigga wrapped her son in her arms as he wept. “Loki, please talk to her. There is a reason these laws exist. To steal someone’s memory is to steal a part of their life.”

“Midgardians forget so much on their own.”

“It’s true. They spend all of their lives dying, their own minds killing the parts of them that could live forever. But Loki, you and I both know that you’re trying to rationalize what you’re about to do.”

“There’s no right answer, is there?”

“Sometimes there isn’t, my dear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just going to leave this chapter here....


	50. A Monster?

Loki sat in his chambers, plotting murder. 

Or, at least, that’s what it felt like to him. He was going to kill the part of Darcy that dabbled in intergalactic politics, that faced down fearsome odds on the field of battle, that loved him. There were so many details he hadn’t expected. He’d worked with Frigga to ensure the potion was made, and safely so as not to take more of her memories than necessary. He would not take away her brilliance. But there was so much more to arrange. How would he convince her to drink it? How would he set things up on Midgard to make it seem as if this was a natural occurrence? How would this go over in Asgard? How much of his magic would it take to close the portal under her bed? What did he want to tell her before he did this?

He would have to seem calm. She knew him so well, she would suspect something was amiss if they talked at length. He would tell her, he knew, if she pressed. And she would be able to convince him not to do it. 

Did this make him a monster? He should ask her. For if what he wished to do was truly the right thing, surely she would come to the same conclusion. But no, he was doing this because he loved her. She would not let him do this because she loved him. Sometimes there are no right answers. 

What kind of person could take away years of his best friend’s life? 

Was it selfish? He would get to save her and he would rob her of the opportunity to try to save him. 

Was it unfair to rob her of him, while he would still remember her fondly?

Could he really do this to her? To them? To himself?

_Forgive me, Darcy,_ he thought.


	51. Penultimate Promises

“There you are, Loki! I’ve got an idea for this whole Midgard debacle. What if we get everyone to pretend to look like adults? It would probably help whatever government agency we end up in the custody of take us more seriously. And you’ll need to do something about my fingerprints.”

“Darcy,” he began.

“Yeah?”

“Can we go talk in the garden?”

He seemed sad. “Sure.” 

Once in the garden they sat down where just yesterday they had shared that wonderful dinner. “Darcy, you trust me, right?”

“Of course, Lokes.” She rested her head on his shoulder, but it only seemed to make him more upset, which was unusual. “What’s wrong?”

“Will you promise me that you’ll do whatever I next ask of you?”

“No.” He looked at her, now. She said, “The only reason you would ask me to promise that is because you know I won’t want to do whatever it is.”

“Darcy, please.”

“Loki, what is it you think I won’t do for you?”

He didn’t respond. He couldn’t.

“Loki, please talk to me. You’re scaring me. What’s going on now?” She stood up, facing him. “Is this about the prophecy? I thought you said that that might not happen for years and years and we still have no idea what it really means.”

“If you promise to do this, Darcy, I will promise to anything you ask of me.” He paused, “Please, you know I would never ask anything that would bring harm to you.”

“Alright, so long as you don’t ask me to do anything impossible.”

“It’s not impossible, just difficult.”

“Ok, what is it?”

He pulled a silver goblet out of thin air. It was filled with a swirling liquid that refused to mix, sections of it crystal clear and other parts which were an inky midnight. It reminder her distantly of the oil and vinegar plates the Italian restaurant up the street from her house put out with the bread. 

“Drink this, it will help you.”

“What’s so difficult about taking some Asgardian vitamins?” She joked, trying to sound brave despite the fear running rampant in her mind. This must be more serious than just some supplement. She couldn’t fathom what it might be, but it was tearing Loki up inside, that much was plain.

“I never said who it would be difficult for.” He was crying and he could not stop himself.

Seeing his tears, she took the goblet and, in a few gulps, had swallowed the entire glassful of liquid. It was cool and light as she drank it and it tasted of, inexplicably, a coconut mist mixed with the faintest traces of campfire smoke. Setting the goblet down, she grabbed hold of Loki’s hands and said, “Now tell me what I’ve just done, Lokes.”

He shook his head, his mind too flooded by tears to voice what he had just done.

“I feel really tired all of the sudden, Loki, and I’m scared. Promise me.”

“Anything.” He said.

“Promise me we’ll be alright.”

“You’ll be extraordinary, Darcy Lewis.”

She giggled more out of nervousness than anything else and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was so tired. Maybe she would just take a nap on Loki’s shoulder and then when she woke up he would tell her everything. His most recent words echoed in her mind, _You’ll be extraordinary, Darcy Lewis._

She turned her head up to look past his chin and into his eyes, “What about you, Loki?” She poked him in his side, “Promise me you’ll be alright, too.”

“Darcy Lewis of Midgard, I promise you that if I even if I never stop missing you, I will be alright, if only for your sake.”

Her eyelids, which had been flickering shut, suddenly shot open in panic. “Missing me? Loki? What have you done?” She tried to stand up, but her limbs were sluggish.

“Shh,” he whispered, kissing her forehead, “Sleep well, my dear.”

“You’ll be here when I wake up?”

“I promise.”


	52. Closures

“She’s waking up.”

Darcy heard the voice distantly, like it was making its way through the wind.

“Darcy, honey, how are you feeling?”

Her mom was standing over her, with an ice pack in her hand. “My head hurts.”

“I know; you slipped and fell on the ice pretty hard. You’ve been out for about ten minutes.” 

Ice? She didn’t remember slipping. “Um.” She took in her surroundings, but she was just lying on the living room couch. 

“I already called the doctor’s office and told them we’d be on our way. You need to get checked for a concussion.”

“Can I rest first?”

“I’m sorry, Darcy, but we need to go to the doctor’s first.” She handed Darcy the ice pack. “Here, you can put this on your head and we’ll get into the car. You’re father has already salted the driveway again, though how he missed so much this morning is a mystery.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Darcy, how are you feeling?” The doctor asked.

“Overwhelmed.”

“Do you remember what happened?”

“My mom said I slipped on ice.”

“What were you doing before you slipped?”

“I was…” She trailed off. How could she not remember? “You know, I’m really tired. I should probably sleep for a bit.”

“Darcy, what’s the last thing you remember before you slipped?”

“I was arguing with Jane about how we should divide up the physics homework.”

Her mom, who looked really worried, interjected. “Darcy, that was last week.”

Last week? That couldn’t be right. She’d been so busy the week after that doing… Huh. 

“Mrs. Lewis, would you mind letting Darcy and I talk alone? I don’t want her getting scared or overwhelmed.”

Her mom blushed and said, “Of course. You just talk to Doctor Rankin, ok, sweetie? We’ll get this all figured out.”

The doctor smiled and her mom left the room. 

The next hour was a series of questions. Some of them were easy, like what her address was, solving some easy math problems, or recalling a book she’d read in class last semester. Others were trickier, like what did she do after talking to Jane that day, or what she did at homecoming. Some she could answer, but not without a nagging feeling that she was forgetting something important.

They moved her to the hospital for some scans, but they found no signs of a concussion, or even a head injury. None of which explained why her head hurt and she couldn’t remember significant chunks of her life.

~~~~~~~~~

All traces of him had been removed from her room. The ice had been magicked onto the sidewalk. He laid her down in the street carefully and made it look as if she’d fallen. Only then did he make her visible. It took only a few moments and some minor magical suggestions for her mother to look outside and rush to bring Darcy inside to the couch. 

Loki kept his promise. He waited by her side until she woke up. She may not know it, but he was there. He wanted to hold her, to give the memories back, to apologize. But he didn’t. He told himself this was for the best and ignored his screaming heart. He followed along as he listened to Darcy’s scared voice answer the questions of the doctor. He heard the fear when she realized she couldn’t even remember what she couldn’t remember. He put that fear there. 

He watched as the Midgardian doctors tried to figure out what had happened, knowing they would not. He had already performed his own magical scans to ensure the potion had not robbed her of anything more than it was supposed to. The pain would subside soon enough, once her mind found new connections in memory to build around the gaps. It was a few days before the doctors let her go home, having given up on determining what had caused the mysterious injury. 

She was back in school the following Monday. He stayed near, wincing every time her memory loss led to confusion. It would become less noticeable as time went on, he knew, but it did not stop his heart from breaking in the meantime. He understood the metaphor all too well, now. But she was safe here. 

That evening, while she was sleeping, he closed the portal behind him, permanently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost to the end, everyone! Comments relieve the winter break boredom, so please leave them below! :)


	53. Stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter after this!

Prince Loki was in seclusion. 

That was the word around the palace. It was the only word given when one inquired since the kidnapping of his advisor by unknown individuals. There had been signs of a struggle in the library the advisor frequented. The investigative mission to Midgard had been postponed indefinitely without a guide to Midgardian practices, and out of respect to Advisor Darcy. Search teams had been sent to each of Asgard’s provinces. Whispers spoke of what would surely happen to whomever had taken Loki’s advisor. If it were an enemy of Asgard, many thought that war would be imminent. Though she had only been at court for a short time, many mourned the loss of the advisor. 

Like all the others, this was the news that Tyr received. But unlike any others, Tyr received an additional note, scrawled in emerald ink and attached to a raven:  
 _  
Tyr,_

_I have heard you have been quite persistent in asking after me. I thank you for your concern, but wish you would not trouble yourself so._

_Loki  
_  
He wrote back:  
 __  
Respectfully, Prince Loki, I will not cease my concern for either you or Darcy. I will remain in Asgard until I see you.  
  
Not two full hours had passed before a guard approached Tyr in the garden. 

“Lord Tyr, please follow me.”

He got up and followed the guard without question. He was led through a maze of hallways and staircases, which did not appear to lead to the prince’s chambers. In an inconspicuous hallway somewhere in the depths of the castle, the guard stopped and, using magic, opened a small portal through the wall. Tyr stepped through after the guard and the portal closed behind him. 

The guard and Tyr were standing in a room that could only be Darcy’s. The bookshelves were full of Midgardian books and other artifacts from Midgard littered the room. The room was decked in purple ranging from lilac to amethyst and accented in the prince’s green. Her room was so much like her that he half expected her to be sitting on the reading bench by the window. 

The guard shimmered with the telltale sparkle of magic until Tyr saw that it was not a palace guard but, in fact, Loki. 

“You’ve seen me now.” He said, “Does this satisfy you?”

Tyr did not speak. He did not know what to say.

“Perhaps this phrasing may make my meaning more clear, for you do love Midgardian literature so, ‘A glooming peace this morning with it brings. The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head. Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things.’” Loki continued, “Why can’t you leave the sun well enough alone, Tyr.”

“If you are quoting Romeo and Juliet, than you have answered where your mood lies.”

“I have said all I have to say.”

“There is something that is not right here.” Tyr said, “You know more than you let on. If she truly was lost, you would not be here, alone. You would be out searching for her.”

“Perhaps you do not know me as well as you think.”

“Stop this, Loki. What purpose could you have for concealing the truth from me?”

He could tell Tyr. Darcy would want him to. If he let Tyr think the worst, she’d have poked him.

“Let me tell you a story, Tyr:

Once, there was a lost little prince who ran between the worlds. He found a portal to a land that none had visited in many years and met a girl. It was like any foolish story of princes meeting seemingly ordinary girls. The prince fell for the girl immediately, and they became good friends. He took her back to his land and invented a title for her, since she would not be allowed to pass otherwise. They had many daring adventures and eventually, he was able to tell her how he truly felt. But his world was too dangerous for her and so he sent her home.”

Loki’s voice was detached in his storytelling, Tyr noticed. He had stopped speaking and looked at Tyr expectantly. 

“But wouldn’t this girl come back to see her prince?”

“She cannot.”

“But is she then destined to live out her days in sadness, missing what she once had?”

“I took the memories.”

So this was no longer a story, Tyr thought. 

“She’s on Midgard. Darcy is Midgardian.” 

Tyr’s eyes widened. “This explains so much.”

“Tyr, I’d like you to keep something safe for me.”

“Yes?” 

“You have the largest collection of Midgardian love stories in the universe, save Midgard itself. Would you add this to it?”

It was a vial filled with pure white sand. Memories.

Tyr nodded. “I will keep it until you or Darcy needs it back.”

“Tyr, you really are a romantic.”

He laughed, “Yes, but Loki, if you don’t mind me saying so, you are, too.”


	54. 54: Post-Credits Scene

The storm was subsiding but the man on the ground appeared to be regaining his senses. Darcy watch as he stumbled and swayed. He started shouting words that were barely comprehensible, but that sounded an awful lot like ‘hammered.’

Jane was busy looking at some complex rune in the ground. The belligerent guy approached Jane, half-shouting, “You there! What realm is this?”

He had a strange accent. And who uses the word realm? She aimed her taser at him.

“You dare threaten me?” He bellowed, squinting through flashlight’s beam to make her out. His expression changed. “Darcy?”

She tased him. Jane looked at her expectantly. 

“What?” she said, “He was freaking me out.”

“Why does he know your name, Darce?”

“I’ve never seen him before in my life!” And she hadn’t. She was sure she’d remember him if she had. “Let’s just get him to the hospital.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it. Thank you to everyone who has read my first fanfic. I'm not sure if I'll ever write a sequel, but I will be working on some Agents of SHIELD stories.
> 
> Best,  
> OnAWhim


End file.
